BND, Sort of
by lemony anemone
Summary: Furious with Sector W for thinking boys are better than girls, Sonya dresses up as a boy and joins their team, determined to prove them wrong. Chaos ensues as Sonya tries to protect her true identity at all costs. 83x84
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

* * *

"Wow, Sonya! You really do look like a guy when you dress up as one!"

"I guess she does," the other girl replied.

Sonya's eyes lit up. "So I win the bet right? Can I have the ultra-special new edition burpleberry lollipop now?"

The girls handed it over reluctantly. "Here." A smile flashed over her face; she walked away, waving good-bye to the two girls. They weren't exactly friends She had lost almost all her rainbow monkeys betting with them. She had only one left - her favorite: Snacks-and-Treats-Glow-in-the-Dark-Special-Edition Rainbow Monkey, yet she had agreed to give him away if she had lost another bet. Was she insane? Oh well, now she had both her rainbow monkey and the lollipop; she smiled triumphantly. Now how would she get the other rainbow monkeys back? She sucked on the sucker.

"What do you think, guys? We need a boy on our team who is an expert on girl policy. I bet that blond-haired guy can do the job."

"Sure, let's recruit him."

"It's cool with me."

"Anyone, as long as it isn't some _girl_."

The four boys jumped out of the tree and ran for the bushes that grew adjacent to the path. They began to follow the possible recruit quietly, but it was hard to do with the underbrush that constantly hindered their progress.

"He's getting away!"

"I _know _that Numbuh 85. Stupid cruddy bushes." A boy with the number 363 imprinted onto his helmet, kicked at them viciously, then called to his team. "Let's go Sector W. Forget this. We're going after him the old-fashioned way." A chorus of yelling interrupted the thoughts of a well-contented girl, and crash-landed her into a life that would never be the same again.

Four boys surrounded her. Four scary, mean, BULLIES! They were holding these weapons that she'd seen some of the kids carrying around. How could they gang up on her like this? The lollipop was unconsciously placed further into her mouth, as she inwardly cringed from the confrontation. In her mind, she was already running away. Unfortunately, she couldn't _physically_ do so. Well, the best way to deal with it was to pretend they didn't scare her.

A boy who looked like the leader of the pack, scrutinized her with a sneer on his face. She saw him glance at the rest of his friends and nod. _Uh oh._ The boy turned to her, his face serious.

"Want to join the Kids Next Door?" Sonya nearly fell over in surprise. She managed to compose herself marvelously.

"What's that?" She asked, cool as a cucumber. The boy pumped his fist in the air.

"The best organization in the world! Kids fight to stop adults from taking over - miss out on this, you'd be acting like some kind of _girl._" He made a face.

"_What_?" Sonya didn't know if she should be insulted.

"Don't be insulted." Sonya whirled around to face a boy with a crop of amazing red hair. "We're not saying _you're_ a girl. The Kids Next Door is really awesome! There are girls in it too, but we decided our team would be better off without any. Everyone knows boys are stronger than girls." He began mumbling, "Except for my ugly sister, she thinks - "

"_What!_"

"I _know_." The redhead nodded. "Gosh, I'm glad you agree. By the way, that helmet head over there is our leader Numbuh 363. I'm Numbuh 85. Nice to meet you."

He shook her hand. She shook his, somewhat dazed. A yo-yo shot past her head, and she jerked away in surprise.

"Don't scare him, Numbuh 84."

"Stop showing off."

"I'm not showing off," the boy in the ushanka protested. "I'm just testing his reflexes." He nodded approvingly. "Very fast. See, a girl could never do that."

"But - " Sonya was starting to get more than just a little miffed.

"I'll show you." He unraveled his yo-yo toward an unsuspecting group of girls, aiming toward a rainbow monkey that one of the girls was holding. He hit it full in the face. The girl shrieked, "Lee!" He shrugged to Sonya as if to say, _there you go._

"That's why we are never ever going to let girls in our sector." This time, it was the chubby boy in the pilot's cap that spoke. "Boys rule, girls drool." He crossed his arms. "Girls go to Jupiter to get more stupider. Boys go to Mars to get free candy bars." He smiled at Sonya. "And I'm Numbuh T."

An angry Sonya who was about to shriek, suddenly stopped in confusion. "But that's even _dumber_, T's not a number."

Numbuh 363 quickly interrupted before Numbuh T could start hurling insults at the possible recruit. "Are you going to join or not? We're _not_ going to ask again." He gave a fuming Numbuh T, a look warning him not to say anything to scare him off. They needed a boy who could get along with girls.

"Um..." Sonya stepped back. How much trouble would she get into when they found out she was actually a girl?

"I mean it!" Numbuh 363's lip stuck out defiantly. He really hoped he would say yes, it was so hard to find a boy their age who would even go near a girl. Cooties, you know.

"Yeah, sure." Hopefully, she would get rid of their _dumb_ view of girls when she revealed her true identity. That is, as long as she didn't mess up on the whole fighting adults part. _Gulp_.

"What's your name?" Numbuh 85 whipped out a notebook that had _Sector W Member Stats_ written in sharpie.

"Sonny." She said confidently.

"Numbuh?"

"Um…"

"It can be anything." Numbuh T mentioned helpfully. "Even a letter in the alphabet."

"3."

"Taken."

"5."

"Taken."

"86?"

"That's my ugly sister's Numbuh." Sonya thought quickly. He was Numbuh 85; the boy in the ushanka was Numbuh 84...

"Numbuh 83?"

"Perfect!" Paddy scribbled it down in his notebook. He looked up quickly. Under hair color, he circled 'yellow', under eye color, he circled 'green', under species, he circled 'boy'.

"So I'm in?"

"Yep."

"Numbuh 83," said Numbuh 363, "Truthfully, we're not officially KND, _yet_, we have to be a year older. But, it's better to practice our teamwork and our fighting skills, so that when we do get in, we'll be the best sector in the entire Kids Next Door." His eyes blazed ambitiously. "We have missions everyday. Our secret hideout is there." He pointed to a tree house that was growing out of his house. It was big. It was flashy; it had gadgets and metal stuck on haphazardly. Sonya's eyes popped open.

"I _love _it!" she shrieked.

Numbuh 363 cringed. Numbuhs 84, 85, and T cringed.

"Don't act like such a _girl_." Numbuh 363 looked at the rest of his teammates worriedly. Had they made a mistake recruiting him? They would soon see.

* * *

_I always thought it was weird that the producers made Sonya the only girl in Sector W. First with Lee, Tommy, and Sonya. Then Paddy, Lee, and Sonya. Then 363, Lee, and Sonya. This is my version of why that is. What do you guys think? Criticism is okay too. _


	2. Numbuh 86

Chapter 2

* * *

"Bye Mom!" Sonya ran down the steps before her mom's voice stopped her cold.

"What are you wearing?" Her mom looked at her disapprovingly from her red baseball cap, to her red t-shirt, and khaki shorts. "You're a girl, Sonya, dress like one! You look like a boy!" However, her mother was distracted by a crash in the living room.

"Sorry, honey!" _Thank you, Dad! _Sonya sprinted to the garage, and strapped on her roller blades. She was out of the way before her mom could protest any longer. She _had_ to look like a boy. That was the point.

Sonya roller bladed up to Numbuh 363's house, and looked at the treehouse in awe. It looked even better close up.

"Wow." The word escaped her lips, and she coasted to a stop to admire it. She adjusted her cap. This was it. She knocked on the wooden door, which immediately opened.

"Hello?" She looked around cautiously, and was met face-to-face with Numbuh 84.

"Come on, Numbuh 83. Numbuh 363 is _freaking_ out." They raced down a hallway, to "Harvey's" room, and opened a closet, which revealed a huge spiral staircase, which was next to a giant glass elevator. They took the elevator up to the tree house's main floor, and burst through the entrance.

"_Finally, _Numbuh 83. We were waiting for you for a gazillion buhmillion years!"

"Sorry." Sonya hung her head. Numbuh 363 tapped his foot impatiently as she sat down.

"Okay. Numbuh 85 has told me that he believes that his sister, Numbuh 86, is being brainwashed. _Brainwashed._ Numbuh 86 is in the Kids Next Door's decommissioning squad. In a few years, she'll probably be Head of Decommissioning. Do you know what that means? If she's being brainwashed by an adult, she's going to let a stupid _teenager_ escape decommissioning. That's another teenager working for _Father_." He said the last word with undisguised disgust.

His sector watched him with wide eyes. This was serious. Numbuh T scratched his head, confused.

"Then why isn't the Kids Next Door taking care of …?"

"The Kids Next Door doesn't know about it yet! If we don't tell anyone, if we do it ourselves…" he smirked. "The Kids Next Door will be begging us to join. Any questions?" Numbuh 363 surveyed the room confidently. "Good. Now, what tipped off Numbuh 85 that his sister was brainwashed was that she was carrying around - this!"

Numbuh 363 flourished the abominable object before his sector. "This _rainbow monkey _would never be in Numbuh 86's possession. Even though she is a girl, she's _obviously_ not into cute and cuddly. So - she was brainwashed by what seems to be an innocent rainbow monkey, but is in fact a rainbow monkey specifically designed to shut down her mind so she can't perform her decommissioning duties."

At first, Sonya was way into the mission. Stop Numbuh 86's brainwashing, that would be so cool! She had gotten dreamy-eyed. But then of course, Numbuh 363 had to bring out the object in question. It was a rainbow monkey.

"The rainbow monkey that Numbuh 86 was seen with," Numbuh 363 continued, "Is always in the house - I'm sure it's because the brainwashed Numbuh 86 doesn't want the Kids Next Door to suspect what's happening. Luckily for us, we have an inside source." He nodded toward Numbuh 85. "All right team, our mission is to search and destroy."

"No!" Sonya's eyes were big and watery. "You can't!" The members of Sector W looked at her curiously.

"What!" Numbuh 363 swung around quickly as if he couldn't believe his ears.

"Is there a problem Numbuh 83?" Numbuh 85 ignored Numbuh 363's annoyed huff, and turned to her.

"Um," _Don't think about that poor rainbow monkey, don't, don't, don't! _She heaved a sigh. "It's nothing!" She smiled brightly.

Numbuh 363 sighed. _Whatever._

"Numbuh T just get the 2x4 technology necessary. We'll be waiting on the S.C.O.O.T.E.R. Let's go team. Got your yo-yo, Numbuh 84?"

"Yeah." As he got on the S.C.O.O.T.E.R, Numbuh 84 watched Numbuh 83 warily. Numbuh 83 had been psyched about the mission, until Numbuh 363 had brought out the rainbow monkey. There was a connection. He played with his yo-yo. Numbuh 83 noticed.

"Oooh! Can you do any tricks?" He showed him Walk the Dog and Around the World.

"That's neat!"

"Numbuh 84 is our yo-yo specialist." Numbuh T grinned as he walked over. "He's just being modest. Walk the Dog, Around the World - that's nothing!"

He laughed and sat next to Numbuh 83. "Okay, here's your choice of weaponry. Gumball shooter, the S.P.L.A.N.K.E.R., and the mustard gun." Sonya stared. She took the gumball shooter, and turned it around in her hands.

"Okay. This one." Numbuh 84 watched him. He watched him hold up the gumball shooter and examine it at different angles. He watched him swing his feet. He watched him move his hand to tuck an imaginary piece of hair behind his ear. Which was weird. He watched as Numbuh 83 bit his lip. "Look, I'll try really hard not to mess up the mission. Can you stop _staring_ like that? It's making me nervous."

"Sorry." Lee walked over to Numbuh 85. He still couldn't shake the feeling there was something off about Numbuh 83. He watched him chatting with Numbuh T, then the two shifting so that they could arm wrestle. "Numbuh 85," Lee lowered his voice, "Don't you think Numbuh 83 is a little girly?"

"Well…" Numbuh 85 looked at Numbuh 83 and Numbuh T arm wrestling, and then at Numbuh 83 winning, easily. "No, not really. That was awesome Numbuh 83!" He turned to Lee. "You're probably looking too much into it." Lee nodded.

"You're probably right."

--

"All right team. Infiltrate the house quickly and quietly. Find the rainbow monkey, destroy the rainbow monkey. We're in, we're out. Got it? Go!"

Sector W ran inside the house, and began to pull out all the drawers and all the sofa cushions. It could be hidden anywhere.

Sonya ran upstairs. A girl would only keep a rainbow monkey in her room. When she saw it, Sonya squealed. "Happy Summer Play Time Rainbow Monkey!" She clasped her hands in delight.

"Numbuh 83?" Numbuh 84 looked at her strangely. He followed her line of vision. "The rainbow monkey! It's upstairs!" The rest of Sector W ran into the room. Numbuh 363 grinned.

"Target sighted." He took out his mustard gun and fired. Numbuh 84 watched Numbuh 83.

"No!" Sonya plowed into Numbuh 363. Sector W cringed, waiting. Numbuh 363 blew up.

"DON'T TOUCH ME!" He shoved Numbuh 83, sending her flying backwards into Numbuh T and Numbuh 84. Her momentum knocked them down. All three got up rather dizzily.

"I got it!" Paddy aimed his S.P.L.A.N.K.E.R. and was ready to smash it up when Numbuh 86 arrived.

"What are you _idiots_ doing to my _rainbow monkey_?" Paddy began to stammer.

"I-I-I was s-stopping it from b-brainwashing you…"

"Get out of here before I personally recommend to Numbuh 274 to _never_ let you _boys_ into the Kids Next Door! And don't you boys _dare _tell anyone that I like rainbow monkeys!" The force of her anger shattered the S.P.L.A.N.K.E.R.

"Okay!"

"Okay!"

"Okay!"

"Mission abort!" Numbuh 85 ran out, followed by Numbuh 363, Numbuh 84, and Numbuh T. Sonya was stopped by Numbuh 86.

"Girls like us have to stick together." Sonya nodded, too scared to argue. "So why are you hanging out with those stupid _boys_!"

"Numbuh 83! We came back to rescue you! Boys like us have to stick together!" Sonya turned white. Numbuh 86 smirked.

"I guess I was right. Boys are idiots." She pointed to Sonya. "'He'is actually a _**gir**__ - _"

"Guys, let's go!" Sonya ran out dragging two members of Sector W, one per arm. She wished she had four arms, then she could drag out the other two.

"Let's get out of here Numbuh 84!" Numbuh 363 ran out after the other three.

Numbuh 84 started to follow, then hesitated at the door. "What were you going to say?" he asked.

Numbuh 86 smirked. "Your teammate is a _girl_."

* * *

_Uh oh! grin Anyway, I'll try to update within a week. _


	3. Medicine Man

**Chapter 3**

* * *

"Oh yeah. That mission was a total success. The Kids Next Door are going to be begging us to join now." Numbuh T was slumped on the couch. Numbuh 363 threw a pillow at him.

"Our next mission is really good." His team remained unmotivated. "It's really important guys. This sicko _adult_ is using his daycare center as a cover for what he's actually doing. He's strapping kids down in chairs and forcing them to eat medicine!" There was a collective gasp. "Let's go team."

They all got on the S.C.O.O.T.E.R. Lee stared at Numbuh 83. He would make _her_ feel uncomfortable. There. He saw _her_ starting to swing _her_ feet, then tucking an imaginary hair behind _her_ ear, and then biting _her_ lip. He smirked. Good, _she_ was getting nervous.

"Stop staring at me!" Her vehemence surprised him. He recovered quickly.

"I know something you don't want me to know." He replied brazenly.

"Ooh! A secret!" _Numbuh 85 is poking his nose in someplace he shouldn't be poking it._ Sonya thought, irritated. _What is it that Numbuh 84 knows? He can't know I'm a girl._

She would give them a secret then. Okay, it wasn't really a secret, but it would do.

"I'm," Sonya wrung her hands, embarrassed, "I'm scared of the dark."

Numbuhs 84 and 85 stared, then erupted into laughter.

"What?" Sonya tried to keep her temper in check, but her eyes blazed with fury.

"Sorry," Numbuh 85 wiped tears from his eyes. "Most kids outgrow it when they're babies."

"Nuh-uh."

"Uh-huh."

Sonya glanced at Numbuh 84 out of the corner of her eye. He wore a satisfied smile, but when he caught her looking at him, he smirked. He mouthed to her. _Wrong_. Oh great. Now he knew she was scared of the dark too. Actually, the whole sector did.

Numbuh 363 rolled his eyes. "Boys shouldn't be scared of anything, especially boys in _my_ sector."

"I _know_." Numbuh T nodded vigorously. "_I'm_ not scared of anything."

--

"No! No!" Numbuh T screamed as he sat helpless, strapped to a metal chair. "I don't want any medicine!"

"It's good for you, silly boy." A man came out of the shadows with a huge vat of pink liquid. "It's freshly made from down the lane." He grinned in a sinister way. "Have a spoonful. Then two! Then three!"

He dropped a ladle into the vat. It came up dripping, and it dripped all the way to Numbuh T's mouth.

"Say aah," said the man.

"AAHHHHH!"

From elsewhere in the daycare center, the rest of Sector W was having their share of troubles.

"That was Numbuh T!" A huge robotic arm crashed down from the ceiling and plumped Numbuh 83 into a chair.

"AAHHHHHHHHH!"

"Numbuh 83!"

"Numbuh 84, Numbuh 85, regroup and enact emergency plan A123 and - "

"DOOOOOON'T TOOOOOOOOUCH MEEEEEEEEEEEE!" Numbuh 363 was slammed into another chair. He struggled uselessly as the metal straps locked around him.

"Numbuh 363!" screamed Paddy.

"Do we even have an emergency plan Numbuh 363?" yelled Lee desperately.

"Contact the Kids Next Door!"

"_That's _the emergency plan?"

"Yes!" Paddy and Lee raced toward the S.C.O.O.T.E.R., if they could reach it, they could hit the distress call button. _Boom._

"Numbuh 84, there's a robot behind us!"

"I know that!" The robot jumped, sailed over their heads, and landed in front of their escape.

"AAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" The two were lifted simultaneously and carried back to the daycare center.

"Time for your medicine!" said a sweet lady with a nurse's cap. "Here you go…"

"Kids Next Door, battle stations!" In a dramatic sweep of events Sector V stormed the daycare center, saved the kids, and most importantly, freed Sector W. It was over.

--

"Another failed mission." Paddy shook his head sadly. "My Irish luck must be running out."

The team was back at the treehouse.

"_No_." Tommy disagreed. "If this hadn't been Sector V's mission originally, we would have been in really big trouble."

"Oh, save it!" Numbuh 363 crossed his arms angrily. Angrily, he uncrossed them. "Where are Numbuhs 83 and 84?" he finally demanded. "I'm calling a meeting. Let's find them." He left abruptly.

"Where _are_ Numbuhs 83 and 84? I haven't seen them since we came back." Paddy nodded in agreement.

--

"You said you needed to talk to me."

"Yeah."

"Is it about the thing you know, but something that I don't want you to know?"

"Yeah."

"What is it?" Sonya asked warily. She watched him as he stepped closer, and stared at her face, hard. "Um…" Her feet began to shift nervously.

"You're a girl." Sonya gulped.

"No, I'm not!" Lee swiftly reached over to pull off her cap. Her yellow locks immediately tumbled down, framing her face. He scoffed.

"Sure you're not." She tucked a piece of her hair behind her ear.

"Are you going to tell everyone now?"

"I…" Lee paused. _Was he_?

"Numbuh 83, Numbuh 84, are you here?" Numbuh 363's annoyed tone penetrated the silence. Sonya bit her lip.

"Oh man!" Lee shoved the cap on her head, and frantically tried to stuff her hair under it. Her hair was going everywhere except under the hat. "Ugh! You do it!" Wide-eyed, Sonya did what he said.

Seconds later, the rest of Sector W entered the room. Immediately, everyone noticed the tension in the air.

"What's going on now?" Numbuh 363 crossed his arms annoyed. "I wanted to call a meeting, but we couldn't find you guys anywhere. We've been looking for like, a half hour." He paused. "Well? Numbuh 84?"

"Numbuh 83 is actually…" Sonya looked down crestfallen; the rest of Sector W looked at "him" curiously. Lee swallowed hard. "Is actually infected with cooties," he finished quickly. Sonya looked up in disbelief.

Dead silence.

"AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!" The panic was greater than it was at the day care center.

"Numbuh 84!" screamed Numbuh 363. "You've had your cootie shot, now get Numbuh 83 into the medical room and cure him now, before we all get infected. Most importantly, don't let him _touch_ me!" Paddy and Tommy had also disappeared.

"Come on Numbuh 83, to the medical room." Sonya followed him, her head spinning. They walked into the medical room, and as soon as they did, Lee closed the double doors, and bolted them. He turned to face her, his hands twisted behind his back, so that she couldn't see them shaking. He had knowingly hid the truth from his friends. He felt awful.

"Thanks, Numbuh 84." Her green eyes stared into his, full of sincerity. He felt uncomfortable as well as awful. What next? Would he start liking girls now? He began to feel even worse.

"Who are you anyway?" He began mixing liquids together, cherry coke, 7up, milk, and orange juice…

"Numbuh 83. Your teammate." She smiled shyly. "And I guess, your friend." So that's why he had protected her identity. Of course, friends kept each other's secrets. He wiped his brow. He felt much better.

"No, I mean, you're not _Sonny_, so who…"

"Sonya." She smiled. "I live down the street."

He smiled too. "I'm Lee. I live around the corner."

--

The moment had gone. Now, it was back to business. The whole cootie business.

"Really, Numbuh 84, thanks so much for not telling! But do you guys actually believe in cooties?" Lee held a bubbling green concoction in front of her.

"Yes. Now drink it." Sonya turned green.

"Are you kidding me?"

"No." Lee rolled his eyes. Pouring some onto a spoon, (the medicine was syrupy enough, it wouldn't spill) he lunged. Sonya dodged.

"Look, Numbuh 84, nobody in the whole entire universe can make me eat that, not even you." Lee groaned as Sonya ran out of the room.

"Numbuh 83, get back here," he said, running after her. Sonya ran through the entire treehouse, using tables and couches as obstacles for her pursuer. This really irritated Lee. It's not as if he had help, with Sonya on the loose, the rest of Sector W lie quivering under their covers.

However, she eventually ran down a hallway that led to a single locked door. _Darn!_ If she knew the treehouse better, she wouldn't have gotten into this situation. She whimpered, and tried to run back out of the dead-end, but Lee had already _dramatically _slid in front of the only exit. He menacingly stepped closer, the green medicine bubbled steadily.

Sonya squeaked. "But I don't actually have cooties."

Lee answered solemnly, "You're actually a girl, so you automatically do." Seeing Sonya's stance, ready to run, he sighed, exasperated now. "No more running okay?" He used his yo-yo to tangle up her feet, and Sonya fell down with a thud. By the time she frantically tried to get up, he was already trying to shovel the "medicine" down her throat. _No way that was going to happen._

Even in her desperate situation, she took the time to glance at his face. He was concentrating only on getting that spoon in her mouth. Although she struggled violently, he had her pinned down, and it was only a matter of time, before she would be force-fed the medicine. Then, Sonya had an idea. _No!_ _Don't!_ She couldn't possibly…She thought about it again. It was foolproof - all she had to do was kiss him, and he would back off.

It was foolproof. For sure.

She bit her lip, hesitating. The spoon moved a little closer._ Do it, you dummy! _She coached herself. _It's not like I'm doing it because I want to; I have to! _She leaned forward and kissed his cheek. She felt him freeze. She pulled back. _See, that wasn't hard at all. _She began to flush with embarrassment.

_Don't think about that, I have to get out of here! _Sonya pushed back Lee, the movement knocking the medicine spoon onto the wooden floor. She hastily untangled her legs from the yo-yo strings and bolted down the hallway, before Lee could function again.

Watching Sonya rush away, Lee slowly got up from his position, on his back, on his elbows, and proceeded to stand up in the same slow manner. He realized she did it to get out of swallowing the medicine, but nevertheless, the fact remained, she _kissed_ him.

He felt it. The blush that he was fighting to keep down was starting to spread from his neck to his face to his ears. His face became a flaming inferno.

"Not cool," he mumbled. He cautiously touched his cheek where she had kissed him. His face became even redder. He buried his face in his hands, and then stumbled off toward his room, the spoonful of medicine lay on the wooden floor, completely forgotten.

* * *

You know me, if there's Sonya...and Lee...in _one_ story...eventually _something's_ going to happen.


	4. The Old Geezer

**

* * *

**

Chapter 4

* * *

Sonya huddled down under her covers, and knew perfectly well that her cheeks were not red because she was warm. _I kissed him!_ She shrieked to herself in panic. _I kissed a boy! _She pulled the blankets over her head and tried to block out the embarrassing memory, but the event replayed itself over and over again inside her head.

"Ugh!" Sonya threw off the covers in frustration. This was impossible; she was obsessing over kissing him. _It was no big deal._ She scolded herself mentally. _You don't care. It's just Lee._ _It's just Numbuh 84. It's just…_She remembered how he had protected her identity once he found out. She hung her head. _I hope he doesn't hate me. _

Numbuh 83 made sure she avoided him for the rest of the day; she knew she couldn't handle seeing him so soon. But she didn't have to worry. For the rest of the day, Numbuh 84 holed himself up in his room in fear he would have to face her. _We're friends, we're just friends. Stay calm, stay cool. _And then he would instantly remember the kiss, and his panicking would begin all over again. When it was time for dinner, and Numbuh T came up to his room to convince him to come out and eat, Lee dragged him in instead.

"Tommy, I have to talk to you." Alarm bells rang inside Lee's head. He had sorta kinda of an unspoken agreement with Sonya not to tell anyone she was a girl. But she kissed him. If he didn't tell anyone about it, he would explode. It was _her_ fault. "Numbuh 83's a girl," he blurted before he could change his mind.

"What?" Tommy looked at Lee uncertainly, trying to gauge his friend's sanity. Lee spoke slowly, clearly, softly.

"Numbuh 83's a girl." He blushed hard. "And she kissed me."

"Wha-" began Tommy, "Wha-wha-WHAT!?" finished Tommy. "Numbuh 83's not a girl. Impossible! He beat me in arm wrestling!

"She."

"What?"

"_She_ beat you in arm wrestling." Tommy chose to ignore that a girl had beaten him in arm wrestling.

"And _if_ Numbuh 83 is a girl, why would she kiss _you_?"

"She attempted to stop me from giving her the medicine." Lee ducked his head. "She succeeded." _Boy, had she succeeded…she had stopped him cold. She kissed him. She _kissed_ him. _Numbuh 84 began to feel a little faint, but he heard Tommy lecturing him anyway.

"Numbuh 363's going to freak out! When'd you find out about this? We've got to tell him - right now!" _Wait._ Lee froze. _He can't!_ Tommy was about to run out of the room, but Lee used his yo-yo, coincidentally the same one that had also stopped Sonya in her tracks, on Tommy.

"Whoa!" Tommy fell to the ground with a thud. "Are you crazy, Numbuh 84? What are you doing?" He stopped for a second as he thought of something. He pointed a finger accusingly at Numbuh 84. "You aren't planning to tell Numbuh 363, are you, Numbuh 84?"

"Well, I," Lee sighed. "No." He looked at Tommy pleadingly. "Tell me you won't tell him, Numbuh T." Tommy grinned slyly.

"No…" He looked pointedly at Lee.

"What?" Lee said in exasperation. "There has to be a reason. Especially 'cause you're looking at me like that!"

"I won't tell him since I want to see how this whole you, Numbuh 83, and the kiss, will work out. It's going to be so funny!" Tommy chortled.

"Numbuh T!" Lee growled, annoyed at Tommy, and annoyed at himself for turning pink. But he wasn't so much as angry as he was relieved. Tommy wouldn't tell.

--

The next day, when the entire sector was called for a meeting at the main floor, Lee and Sonya could no longer avoid each other. Tommy laughed silently at his friends' predicament during Numbuh 363's lecture.

"Basically, what I'm _trying_ to tell you guys is that we need to be better organized. I'm _obviously_ the leader, so I'll tell you guys what to do."

"Numbuh 83. You're our Boy-Girl Relations Officer…"

"I'm sure _he'll_ do a great job." Tommy emphasized gleefully. "Right, Num-buh Eight-y-three?" Sonya froze, but turned in time to see Numbuh 84 smacking his forehead. _Um…what's going on here?_ Sonya felt slightly nervous. Numbuh 363 continued as if he had not just been interrupted.

"Numbuh 84, you're our tactical yo-yo specialist. Numbuh 85, you're the freak-show/head of diversionary tactics, and Numbuh T, you are our 2x4 technology officer. Everyone got it? Good. We need to get our team better prepared. As in what exactly we need to do in an emergency. We are going to implement Exit Strategy B123. He showed how it would be carried out on the big screen.

_Any_way, our mission today -" Numbuh 363 stopped when he heard a groan. "Look, you guys better shape up; we've got to complete the mission this time! We can't make fools out of ourselves, not again!

Okay - there's a cranky old _geezer_ that lives across the street. I've been monitoring his actions, and in the past three days, he's taken every kid's toy that gets on his lawn. If your ball rolls onto his property, you can consider it lost. That's why we, as the best sector in the Kids Next Door, have to stop the basketball-snatching thief!" Numbuh 363 eyes burned in anger.

"Um, Numbuh 363," Paddy ventured. "Did he take your basketball?"

"We are getting my basketball back, and all the other kids' stuff, but especially my basketball. And maybe this time we can do this without calling Sector _V _for help. Especially Nigel _Uno_."

Sonya raised her hand. "Excuse me, Numbuh 363, but what do you have against Nigel Uno?"

Sector W instantly quieted. Lee shot Sonya a warning look, she looked at him, he turned quickly away, his cheeks bright red. _Crud_. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Numbuh T laughing silently.

--

"Go Sector W!" At his cry, the team fanned out as they left the S.C.O.O.T.E.R., carefully scanned their surroundings, ducked behind the trashcans, crawled across the lawn, and as they reached the house, listened for the sound of the old geezer, wherever he was.

Carefully, they sneaked past the windows…"What are you dang kids doing on my property!"

Tommy began to tremble. "Oh no! It's the old geezer! Run!"

"No! Stay in your positions!" Numbuh 363 aimed his mustard gun at the villain. He smirked. "You better give up you Old Geezer, give us our toys back! Or else." When the old man began to cackle gleefully, Numbuh 363 began to get worried. "Guys, be careful, the Old Geezer is off his rocker."

"Off my rocker, am I?" The Old Geezer took out a remote control that had yellow knobs, and a green button. "You kids are going to get it!" He pressed the green button. Seconds later, his house uprooted itself from the ground, and began to attack Sector W.

"Numbuh 363! What do we do?"

"Exit Strategy B123! B123!"

Paddy translated. "Split up and run!" He took off toward the woods. Tommy ran toward the S.C.O.O.T.E.R Harvey sprinted across the lawn. Sonya jumped over the fence. Lee tore down the street.

Unfortunately for Numbuh 84, the monster house decided to follow him down the street. The Old Geezer rode on the chimney of the house. "Get him, house! Get him!" He moved the yellow knob, and the house lurched forward, nearly catching up with the unlucky member of Sector W. Lee began to panic.

"Crud, crud, crud!" He ran as fast as he could, and looked back at the villain. _Could he fight it?_ The house loomed high above him, menacing and dangerous. _Um…maybe not. _He sprinted around the corner of a house, and used his yo-yo to swing into the branches of a tree. He was relatively hidden, although…Lee eyed the gaps between the branches uneasily. He didn't feel safe at all.

The monster house appeared. It drew closer to his hiding place, but it hadn't found him, yet. Lee backed as far as he could into the tree's shadows, and crossed his fingers. The house passed him. Lee let out a shaky breath. That was close.

Footsteps. They ran by the tree. "Numbuh 84?" A voice called out quietly. "Numbuh 84?" A yo-yo shot down from the tree, and swiftly pulled her up. Sonya let out a startled sound. The house that was moving down the street, stopped.

Lee clamped a hand on her mouth quickly. In the midst of the tense silence, Lee was very aware that he was reddening, but this was quickly forgotten the moment the house started moving again. Relief flooded their nerves, and the two operatives wiped their brows exaggeratedly.

"Numbuh 84, where are you?" The emergency radio crackled and hissed with static. Lee and Sonya froze mid-wipe. "And is Numbuh 83 with you? The rest of Sector W is here at the treehouse." The house turned around, its windows open, as if it were listening.

"Cork it, Harvey!" Lee hissed angrily.

"There he is, house, there he is! In the tree!" The Old Geezer cackled gleefully. "And there's another one! Get them! Get them! Get them!" Lee grabbed the radio.

"Sector W, we need help ASAP, we're being chased by a monster house ridden by the Old Geezer -" Pipes were fired from the house in rapid succession. "Dangerous projectiles -" Electrical wires shot out of the house. "And electrical holding devices -" While Lee was preoccupied with dodging household appliances, and telling Sector W to get the S.C.O.O.T.E.R. so they could retreat, Sonya was having troubles of her own.

The house's red carpet had unfurled out the door, down the porch steps, and toward her. "Numbuh…84!" In panic, she sped away from what was supposed to be an inanimate object. "I'm getting chased by a carpet that's supposed to stay on the floor!" Lee glanced at Sonya. His eyes widened.

"Watch out!" Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the red carpet snaking around her sides. She tried to run.

"Numbuh 84! Ack!" The red carpet cut off her path, circled around, and bound her up effectively. She couldn't move. The carpet turned her around to face the villain and his accomplice. Sonya gulped. She cautiously stepped on her shoelace, effectively untying it. An emergency radio system booted up. "This is Numbuh 83, requesting immediate backup, prisoner of war, held by the Old Geezer's carpet, mmph!"

The red carpet furiously wound around to muffle her mouth tightly. "Leave Numbuh 83 alone!" Lee sprinted toward her aid, his yo-yo swinging…and then he was hit from behind by a toaster.

"Ugh. Not cool!" Three electrical wires went after him. Two for his arms, and one for his yo-yo.

"Mm, mrm, mmph!" Sonya ineffectively struggled against the carpet's hold. Seconds later, the electrical wires had wrapped around Lee, and carried him forward, next to Sonya. Sonya looked up at the Old Geezer. _We are sitting ducks. _Lee looked up at the old geezer. _Okay. Sector W is probably on their way. We'll be all right. _

The radio came to life. "Numbuh 84, come on, do something, retreating is not an option. He sounded agitated. We can't fail a mission again!" Sonya started. Sector W wasn't coming? _Oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no - _Sonya began to panic. _Oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no!_

Lee grimaced. "I'm kind of tied up at the moment! Where _are_ you guys?" The monster house smashed the radio, its pieces scattered all over the asphalt. Lee cringed. Sonya paled. _I'm a goner. I'm going to be crushed, and all that's left of me will be Sonya pulp._

The Old Geezer floated down on his chimney throne. It had detached from the house.

"You know what I'm going to do with you pesky kids? I'm going to make an example of you so that kids and their toys will stop getting on my property! I'm going to lock you up in my house's dark basement until the Kids Nest Door offer me a deal. He grinned at them sadistically. "Now, how about that for an idea?"

"Da-dark b-basement?" Sonya began to shake. The Old Geezer cackled.

"You're afraid of the dark? Even better! I want to make you kids miserable! I'm going to stick you guys down there…" The Old Geezer made his voice sound as threatening as he could. "For a long, long time."

"I don't like the dark!" Sonya began to shake violently. Lee glanced at her worriedly, remembering the time she had told the sector her fear.

"Maybe, even forever!" _Forever, forever, forever…_The Old Geezer's words echoed in her head. _No, no…no! No! NO!_

"I don't like the dark! Yah!" Her anger blasted the red carpet to pieces. "Don't put me in the dark you meanie!" Sonya dealt the Old Geezer a punishing blow. "I don't want to go in the dark basement!" Sonya began attacking the house furiously, and although the monster house tried to stop its assailer, nothing could stop her now.

The wires holding Lee shook and weakened, and eventually dropped him onto the ground. Lee stood up in a daze as he watched Sonya chase the Old Geezer up a tree, before resuming her attack on the house.

"Yahhh!!" It was over. Sonya panted heavily, her feet in the middle of a pile of splintered wood, shattered brick, and dented shingles. Her pointy teeth began to resemble their normal shape. Her fiery eyes disappeared into a pool of green.

Sonya smiled happily._Yay! No monster house no dark basement! Yay!_ She skipped out from the destruction she had caused, and stopped short in front of the Old Geezer, who was clutching the tree. "Bye, mister!" She skipped to a white-faced Lee. "Let's go, Numbuh 84!" She grabbed his hand, and pulled him along. Lee stumbled after her, jerkily.

"Numbuh…Numbuh 83.." Sonya whirled around to find three, white-faced, boys.

She chirped happily. "Numbuh 85, Numbuh T, Numbuh 363! I thought you guys would never get here!"

Numbuh T was the first to recover from the shock. He laughed shakily. "Do you guys even know that you're holding hands?" Sonya and Lee let go as if they'd been burned.

"It wasn't like that!" They both protested, so embarrassed that their faces resembled huge tomatoes. "Besides," Sonya added with emphasis, "I'm a boy!" Tommy winked at her subtly. It wasn't as subtle as he thought.

Lee hit him with his yo-yo, Paddy asked if there was something in his eye, and Harvey watched the exchange with suspicious eyes. He knew something was off, that something wasn't right. But what?

* * *

_Obviously, I got the Monster House idea from the cartoon...Monster House. _


	5. Mr Perfecto and Mrs Perfecta

**Chapter 5**

* * *

"Aren't you glad you got your basketball back, Numbuh 363?"

"Yeah."

"Aren't you glad our sector got all the credit for beating the Old Geezer?"

"Yeah."

"Then, what's wrong now?" Paddy fell back onto the sofa, exasperated with his leader's moods. They had beaten the Old Geezer and his monster house without the help of Sector V, they had returned all the neighborhood kids' toys that the Old Geezer took, and nobody had gotten hurt.

Sure, Numbuh 83 had suddenly turned scary, but they won. They won, so who cared? "Is it about Numbuh 83 turning superscary?" Paddy sighed. "Is that what this is about?"

"_No._ It's about Numbuh 83 _and_ Numbuh 84. What's going on with those two? They've gone missing again. Something's fishy." Tommy looked up from his Yipper Cards.

"And it's not a dead fish! Ahhahahahhahahaha!" He fell over laughing at his joke, ignoring the blank stares he received.

"Hey!" Paddy suddenly sat up as he remembered. "Numbuh 84 said something to me about Numbuh 83. He thought it was weird how girly he could be," Tommy dropped his Yipper cards. "But then again," Paddy mused, "he beat Numbuh T at arm-wrestling in like two seconds flat!" He snickered. "And that's not easy." Tommy held his breath.

"Yeah. Numbuh 83 is girly." Numbuh 363 dismissed the thought. "But he is the Boy-Girl Relations Officer. He has to get along with girls, meaning he probably picked up some girly traits." He paced the floor as Numbuh 85 watched patiently. "What's bugging me is that Numbuhs 83 and 84 are missing again, and I want to call a meeting!"

Numbuh 363 threw off his helmet, revealing his bowl-cut, sandy-brown, hair. The helmet skid to a stop across the room where Tommy heaved a sigh of relief. The secret was still safe. "Let's go find them." Harvey crossed his arms angrily. "Again."

--

"I don't know how the holding hands thing happened." Sonya burst out. "It just happened - I wasn't even thinking about it. So, I'm _sorry_ if I embarrassed you in front of your friends! So, _stop_ giving me that scary glare!"

"Yeah, I was embarrassed, but that's not what this is about, I'm mad about the _kiss_." He said, still giving her the glare.

"I'm sorry! I don't blame you for getting mad about that," she squeaked. "But that was some really horrible-looking medicine…" She trailed off. Numbuh 84 rolled his eyes. _What a mess._

"The problem is, now Numbuh T knows you're a girl too 'cause I had to tell somebody after the ki-_thing _happened, 'cause I was going to go crazy."

"Yeah." Sonya nodded once. "I guessed he might know."

"But he promised not to tell. So, don't worry about it." Lee stopped, listening for a noise. "Shh. Someone's coming." Numbuh T walked into the room.

"There you guys are. Numbuh 363's looking for both of you." He looked at Sonya's hat; she satisfied his curiosity by taking it off, and once again, her tangled, blonde hair fell away from the top of her head.

Tommy adjusted his goggles and circled her. "So, you_ are_ a girl. Interesting. I don't think I'm affected by your cooties, since I was okay this whole time. But, interesting." He rocked back onto his heels. "You know, you must be _pretty_ cool for Numbuh 84 to beg me not to tell Numbuh 363 you're a girl." Numbuh 83's eyes widened.

Numbuh 84 fell over in horrified shock. He was going to kill him. When he got up, he was more than a little ticked off. "Numbuh T…" Lee reached for his yo-yo with clenched teeth. Tommy began to back away.

"Numbuh 363!" he hollered. "They're in here!" Tommy ran off, and Lee chased him angrily down the hallway. Sonya remained in the room. _He begged Tommy? _She walked toward her mirror. Her reflection showed her pink face. She touched her forehead anxiously. Her face felt warmer than usual. She didn't think she was sick, but she refused to acknowledge the other possibility._ She didn't like him, okay?_ After a moment, she decided to join her teammates, and she ran out the door.

"Finally, you guys are all here." Numbuh 363 glared at a guilty-looking Tommy, Lee, and Sonya. "We have a new mission, to defeat Mr. Perfecto Lawnman and Mrs. Perfecta Housewife."

_--_

"Whoa, hold on. You're saying that Mr. Perfecto Lawnman and Mrs. Perfecta Housewife force their kids to slave away for hours doing yard work and cleaning the house?"

"You got that right, Numbuh T." Numbuh 363 said grimly. "We've got to save those kids before…let's hope we aren't too late."

"Before what?" Sonya asked. She jumped when she noticed that suddenly; the rest of the sector was decked out in black. She rubbed her eyes, and realized that it wasn't an illusion. Simultaneously, Numbuh 363, Numbuh T, and Numbuh 84 took off their helmet, hat, and ushanka respectively, and placed them over their hearts. They bowed their heads sadly.

Numbuh 85 explained in a quiet voice. "You know the saying, all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy?" Sonya nodded with wide eyes. "Recently, the Kids Next Door has discovered that when kids are forced to work all day, delightfulization occurs over the course of one month.

"Oh no." Sonya whispered. "Those poor kids."

"It is a gradual process, so most kids don't have to worry about it, even if they are subject to a week of hard labor. Most adults aren't evil enough to submit their kids to work all the time. However, there are always exceptions. This case was brought to light, when Jack and Jill's friends have noticed they have been acting more and more strangely in the past couple weeks. Then yesterday, Jack came to school sporting a blue suit, and Jill came to school wearing a sailor dress."

Sonya turned around, and silently vowed to herself. She would not let Jack and Jill turn into Delightful copies. She turned back around. Numbuhs 363, T, 84, and 85 had resumed their normal positions, in their normal outfits.

"What's going on here?!"

--

Sector W solemnly watched Jack pulling weeds. Through a window, they saw Jill vacuuming the house; their parents relaxed on lawn chairs on the driveway.

"Sector W, let's beat some sense into them!" Numbuh 363 charged out of the hiding place, shooting his mustard gun haphazardly. He ran straight toward Mr. Perfecto and Mrs. Perfecta. A second later, he was joined by the rest of his sector who shouted his (or her) individual battle cries.

Jack and Jill stopped their work and watched Sector W battle their parents. They shrugged and went back to work.

"Stop shooting, little boy! You're staining my clothes!" shrieked Mrs. Perfecta Housewife at Numbuh 363, who attacked her relentlessly with the mustard gun.

"You kids stop running all over the grass!" shouted Mr. Perfecto Lawnman at a gumball-shooting Sonya, and a S.P.L.A.N.K.E.R.-carrying Paddy.

Tommy and Lee ran over to rescue Jack and Jill.

"Yipper Cards, man." _Tada!_ Jack tore off his sailor suit, revealing his normal outfit.

"I'm back, I'm back!"

Tommy, Lee, and Jack ran into the house to a Jill that was still obediently vacuuming.

"Rainbow monkeys." _Tada! _Jill blinked, and looked down at her outfit in disgust. "Yuck! What am I _wearing_?" Suddenly, the sailor dress disappeared and was replaced by pink dress with ruffles.

The three boys nodded and shook each other's hands. "Good job, boys."

Harvey rushed into the room.

"Guys! We're in trouble! Mr. Perfecto Lawnman is driving a gigantic lawnmower big enough to shred us to pieces! And Mrs. Perfecta Housewife is - I don't know yet, but I'm sure we'll find out."

A scream was heard from outside accompanied by a noisy sucking sound and triumphant laughter from Mrs. Perfecta.

"That was Numbuh 83!" Numbuh 363 began to shout instructions.

"Numbuh 85, take Jack and Jill to the S.C.O.O.T.E.R.; Numbuh 84, help Numbuh 83. Numbuh T, come with me, you're going to disable that lawnmower while I distract it!"

Numbuh 84 ran outside, and gasped. He hurriedly threw his yo-yo around a tree to stop himself from hurtling into the sky. A gigantic vacuum was sucking in cars, cats, and refrigerators, and _whoa. _He grabbed his ushanka before it flew off, and stuffed it into his pocket. Sonya hurtled past holding onto a branch of an uprooted tree. "Numbuh 84!"

"Hyah!" Lee threw two yo-yos, both had their strings replaced with Tommy-tether; Numbuh T assured him that Tommy-tether was unbreakable; Numbuh 84 hoped that Numbuh T wasn't joking, before slinging them, one he wound around one of Mrs. Perfecta Housewife's enormous ankles and himself, the other, he wound around Sonya.

"What you're doing is useless!" screamed Mrs. Perfecta Housewife. She tried to cut the Tommy-tether with branch cutters. Lee ignored her for the moment.

"Hold on!" He yelled to Sonya, although he knew she couldn't hear him. He began to pull on the Tommy-tether, bringing Sonya closer and closer to the ground.

Suddenly the lawnmower ground to a halt. Lee heard Tommy's triumphant voice. _Uh oh._ He reeled in Sonya faster when he realized Tommy would disable the vacuum next. Slowly, the sucking of the vacuum grew weaker, until it stopped altogether.

Sonya began to fall. She began to scream. "Leeeeeeeeeeeeeee!"

"Oh crud!" He panicked; instead of using his yo-yos as he should, he tried to cushion her fall by catching her. When she landed on him, he immediately crumpled to the ground. "Oww…" Sonya scrambled off of him.

"I'm sorry, Lee! I'm so, so, sorry! Are you all right?

"Oww…"

"I'm sorry, Lee!" She bent over him worriedly. "Can you get up?"

She heard a scream, and turned around to see Paddy gaping open-mouthed. Tommy was behind him, frantically gesturing toward his head.

"Numbuh T! Numbuh 85! Numbuh 84 needs immediate medical help -"

"Y-y-y-ou're a…a-a-a…g-girl! You're a girl!" Paddy said in disbelief. Sonya swiftly raised her hand to adjust her cap…except it was gone. Lee sat up quickly.

"Your hat!" He ignored his pain. _Oh no. _Lee's heart thudded erratically in panic.

"The vacuum!" Sonya realized her cap had long disappeared inside the powerful vacuum. "Um, well…" She bit her lip when she looked at Paddy's stricken expression.

"Numbuh 83," Tommy hesitantly reached out to try to comfort her. "It'll be okay."

"You're a girl!" Paddy remained unable to get over this new revelation. Tommy smacked him angrily with his hat.

"Lee, Tommy, what am I going to do?" Sonya tucked a piece of hair behind her ear agitatedly.

"Numbuh 84!" Paddy swung around. "Numbuh T! That's right! Why aren't _you guys_ freaking out about this?"

"Of course, I'm freaking out about this! Now she's going to get kicked off the team!" said Lee, waving his arms in the air.

"But she's a girl!" Paddy repeated unnecessarily.

"Yeah, we've known that for ages!" Tommy cut in. "And Lee's known longer than I have!"

"What!" Sonya bit her lip anxiously as she watched her teammates freak out.

"Guys?" They halted and stared at her. "I… Can I borrow one of your hats?" They froze.

Finally, slowly, haltingly, Lee handed over his ushanka. "Here." He looked away from her curious eyes.

"Oh, Numbuh 84..." _His ushanka._ She realized the significance of it. She felt her cheeks warm as she fit the ushanka over her head. "Thank you." She said, softly.

"Numbuh 84!" Tommy's jaw dropped. Paddy's jaw dropped. "You gave _her_ your _ushanka_!"

"I know what you're thinking, guys." Lee muttered. "I'm not crazy. She's a girl, but," he paused, "she's Numbuh 83." He paused again. "Are you going to tell, Numbuh 85?" Paddy shook his head slowly.

Sonya watched Numbuh 84. He turned around, embarrassed. "What?"

"Nothing," she stammered. _I think, I think, I do like you._

--

Paddy, Tommy, Lee, and Sonya returned to the S.C.O.O.T.E.R. Harvey stared. Numbuh 84's ushanka was on Numbuh 83's head. He rubbed his eyes quickly, and looked again, and realized it was not an illusion. _What was going on?_

* * *

_Hello! To clear up a few things..._

_1) The unrealistic change of outfits in the blink of an eye? It was an idea...and I liked it. lol_

_2) Why does Sonya not cut her hair? To avoid her mother's wrath. _


	6. Queen Shelly

**Chapter 6**

* * *

Lee was just barely, just _slightly_ irritated that Numbuh 83 refused to tell him where she was going. You would think that after all he had done for her, she would be grateful enough to tell him this itty, bitty thing. But _no_.

"Numbuh 363, sir?"

"Yes, Numbuh 83?"

"I won't be here today, my family's going on vacation in an hour."

"Lucky! Where are you going, Numbuh 83?" Paddy cried.

"Just someplace." Sonya said vaguely. "Well, bye guys! I've got to pack, see you tomorrow!" She slammed the door on her way out.

"I guess Numbuh 83 was excited to leave." Paddy was disgruntled because _he_ wanted to go on a vacation, but his dad, Mr. Boss, was caught up in villain work, and his sister, Numbuh 86 had things to do. "Do you know where she's going, Numbuh 84?"

"No." He ground out, and received a curious stare from Paddy.

"Hey, Numbuh 363!" Tommy got a brilliant idea. "What if _we_ go on a vacation as a sector?"

"We have missions to carry out," Numbuh 363 muttered. However, his attitude didn't deter Tommy from trying to convince him.

"Come on, Numbuh 363, have some fun. Want to go the beach, you guys? Yeah, you see?" Tommy automatically assumed everyone on the team would want to go. "Numbuhs 84 and 85 want to go to the beach. I want to go to the beach! Everybody wants to go the beach except _you_, Numbuh 363. With the exception of an annoyed huff, his rambling was largely ignored. Tommy sighed a defeated sigh. "You know what, Numbuh 363? Never mind."

Paddy, however, really wanted to go on a vacation, and he knew Lee in a mood would not be doing anything to help the cause. He would have to bring out - the really, really big guns.

"Gosh, you're worse than Numbuh 1!" When he saw Numbuh 363's back stiffen, he knew he had said the right thing.

After donning their swimming trunks, the boys of Sector W took off in their S.C.O.O.T.E.R. to spend a day of fun at the beach.

--

"Yay!" Sonya cried with excitement. "We're here!" She threw off her sandals and chose to run barefoot across the sand, reveling in its cushiony feel. She waved hello to the seagulls that cawed overhead in the sky, and circled back to her family, who followed her clumsily, carrying towels and sunscreen.

"Where do you want us to put the towels, kiddo?"

"Riiiight here." Sonya waved her hand toward a general location. "Can I go make a sand castle now?"

"Go ahead, dear."

Sonya ran along happily toward the shore to find the perfect place to build a sandcastle for her rainbow monkey. She ran by the hot dog stand, and absentmindedly noted that Sector W was also here. _Wait a second._ In Sonya's mind, imaginary tires screeched loudly to a halt, and she stopped so suddenly, she almost fell over.

_Calm down, calm down. _Sonya frantically scrambled back, away from the hot dog stand, and hid herself among the hundreds of kids that ran around the beach. _What are they doing here? _She was bewildered. _Calm down, calm down. Okay, if I stay away from them, I don't have to worry about it. _She told herself. _Just have fun._ She glanced cautiously around before running farther down the beach, stationing herself behind the umbrellas of several families.

"Perfect!" She crowed delightedly. Without another thought, she happily set about making her sandcastle. When she finally finished…she clasped her hands as her eyes shined. It was so wonderful! That is, it was wonderful until it was stepped on. Rather, jumped on. Sonya's eyes popped out. "You can't do that - that's like, against the law!" She glared angrily at the castle destroyer.

"Totally sorry, but there is only one castle on this beach, and it's Queen Shelly's. Anyone who disobeys gets _their_ castle destroyed, but becomes a gracious guest at _her_ castle." The knight grabbed her arm. Sonya snatched it back. "You must come, fair maiden!"

"Um," Sonya tilted her head to one side. "It's okay…I don't really want to, you know -" She took off.

"No, wait! The Queen demands your presence!" Sonya tore down the beach as she heard the clanking metal-suited teenager chasing after her, but within a minute, he had caught up with her, and proceeded to forcibly carry her to Queen Shelly's castle. She saw Sector W splashing in the water. She thought of calling them for help, and then thought better of it. Queen Shelly couldn't be worse than Harvey figuring out that _she _was actually Numbuh 83.

Sonya was graciously led to a long dining table that was set for three. _Three? _While the knights stood guard over her, Sonya slipped into one of the hard-backed chairs, and swung her feet nervously as she waited for the queen.

One of the double wooden doors creaked open. Queen Shelly flounced in the room in a dress, or was it a swimsuit? Or was it both? She was followed by her younger brother who carried her pail of shells. They slid into the seats.

"Well, well, who are you?" Queen Shelly rested her head on her hands, as she curiously observed her guest. "By now, you have undoubtedly realized that you have been graced in the presence of the queen herself."

"Sonya." The queen couldn't help noticing the windmill-like motion created by Sonya's swinging feet. _She must be nervous._ Queen Shelly decided that the best way to help Sonya relax was to introduce her to her brother. They _were_ about the same age…a light bulb shined above her head as she had a _fabulous_ idea that would make the day very entertaining. Eagerly, she continued the introductions.

"Ah. Well, Sonya. This is my younger brother, Prince Sandy. He's going to be king next year because I'm turning thirteen, and I can't play make-believe when I'm a teenager. That's so babyish. Anyway, kings are always handsome and brave and strong and handsome and cool and handsome..."

"Anyway, he needs a suitable bride, preferably before he's a king…" Queen Shelly chattered on excitedly as Sonya nodded patiently and politely; there was no sense in infuriating royalty. "The bride should be beautiful and caring and sweet and beautiful and talented and beautiful..." _Queen Shelly has a one-track mind. _Sonya propped her head up on her arm, no longer nervous, but bored. "...and I'd like it if his bride has hair the color of sunshine, eyes like emeralds, and a cute sense of style." Blonde-haired, green-eyed Sonya in a pink swimsuit stared blankly at her.

"Okay," Queen Shelly realized that Sonya was not getting it, so she got to the point. "_You're_ a suitable bride." Sonya paused as she turned over this new, unwanted piece of information in her mind. _Me?_ She was confused. _A suitable bride for Prince Sandy?_ _Where did this come from?_

"_Me_?"

"Yes, you." Queen Shelly told Sonya pleasantly.

"What if I don't want to marry him?" Sonya bit her lip, as her nervousness returned. However, the prince and queen ignored her question. They were having a conversation of their own.

"Do you like her, Prince Sandy?" asked the queen.

"She is very pretty. Yes." Prince Sandy turned to a horrified Sonya, and smirked as he waved at her.

"Then, I'll give you permission to marry her," said Queen Shelly, as if she was bestowing a great favor.

"Thank you, my queen."

Throughout their entire conversation, Sonya's face turned from horrified to disbelief to rage. _They can't decide this on their own!_

"Don't I get a say in this?" She stood up in anger. However, she was promptly pushed back into her chair by one of the knights. The queen simply smiled smugly.

"I'm Queen Shelly, I can do whatever I want." Sonya glanced at her face…judging by her expression, that was that. _But still!_

"You just can't do that!" Sonya said angrily. She gulped when the knights stepped forward with their spears. You really have no choice." She paused. "Did you actually think you had a choice?" Queen Shelly was genuinely surprised.

"Well, I can't marry him." Sonya said anyway.

"Why not?" she demanded. Queen Shelly's eyes blazed, as her idea of hosting a wedding party in her castle was about to be shattered. Sonya thought frantically of a good excuse.

"I am already…betrothed." Sonya swung her feet nervously. _What a dumb excuse - she'll never believe that! _

"You lie!"

"I don't!" Sonya tucked a piece of hair behind her ear. _Darn those fairytales that she had been reading lately! _

"Then who is the boy?" The queen asked viciously, disbelief colored her tone. Sonya bit her lip; she didn't actually want to _say_ a name. She definitely wouldn't say someone like, say for example, Numbuh 84. "Well?" Queen Shelly pressed the poor girl. There was no answer. "There is no boy, then," declared Queen Shelly triumphantly. "You're marrying my brother!"

"It's Billy Smith!" Sonya burst out quickly. She watched Queen Shelly's eyebrows furrow together in annoyance. After a short pause, she commanded her knights to find the boy and bring him to the castle. For torturing purposes. After ten minutes of being tickled by peacock feathers, any boy would gladly give up a betrothal.

Sonya bit her lip, and hoped that there wasn't a Billy Smith within a five-mile radius. She berated herself angrily. _Should have gone with a name like Jonah Thurber._

"Wait, actually, I have a better idea." Sonya didn't trust the smile that lit up Queen Shelly's face.

--

The knights marched around the beach screaming the announcement.

"By royal decree, Prince Sandy and Sonya will be married this afternoon, unless Billy Smith will battle for his betrothed in the name of love. Otherwise, by royal decree, Prince Sandy, and soon-to-be Princess Sonya will hold their wedding party at Queen Shelly's castle as planned. Billy Smith!" The knights solemnly gazed around the beach. "Do as you will." They marched off again, repeating the announcement, ignoring the irritated glares they received.

Water sprayed as Lee swung toward the direction of the knights in disbelief.

"Did they say Sandy and _Sonya_?" Something inside Lee lurched, but he reassured himself. _Numbuh 83's away on vacation. It couldn't possibly be her_.

Harvey snickered. "Yeah. The _lovey-dovey_ couple's getting _married._" He batted his eyes mockingly. Paddy laughed at his exaggerated imitations.

"Prince Sandy and Sonya sitting in a tree, k-i-s-s-i-n-g." Tommy made kissing noises gleefully. Lee unintentionally voiced his thoughts aloud.

"It couldn't possibly be -" Luckily, he was interrupted.

"Yeah, they _are_ getting married this afternoon," Paddy grinned. "Unless her betrothed, Billy Smith fights for her." Harvey, Tommy, and Paddy fell over in the water as they laughed. Lee began to feel uncomfortable. _Really, it would be better to make sure._

"Wouldn't it be funny to see them battle it out over a cruddy girl?" Lee asked casually.

His friends didn't really care either way, but Lee gave them no choice as he dragged them out of the water.

"What's the deal, Numbuh 84?"

--

"Ahhh," said Queen Shelly while looking through the binoculars. "Here they come."

Sector W burst through the castle entrance minutes later. "Where's the wedding?" Harvey demanded as the knights strode into view. "Actually, where's the battle between Prince Sandy and Billy Smith? That's what _we_ came for." Numbuh 363 gestured toward his team arrogantly. "This is _my_ team." He added, even more arrogantly.

"Billy Smith has not arrived," said the knight in orange.

"So the wedding shall soon commence!" said the knight in green.

"You are welcome to attend!" said the knight in blue.

"Pah." Harvey rolled his eyes. "Who wants to see that?"

"Welcome, welcome!" An older girl walked toward them. "I am Queen Shelly; welcome to the wedding of my brother and his fiancée!" She clapped her hands delightedly when Prince Sandy decided to greet the guests with his beloved on his arm. His beloved kicked him, making him cry out in pain. Sonya and Lee saw each other at the same time.

"Lee?" Sonya's eyes widened. _Lee_? Prince Sandy frowned. As in Bil-_lee_ Smith?

"Sonya?" Lee said, bewildered. _So, it was her._ Tommy's eyes were like quarters. He nudged Paddy frantically.

"What?" Paddy snapped, irritated. Tommy whispered.

"S-She's Numbuh 83!! I can't, can't believe it!" Meanwhile, Numbuh 363 had marched up to Lee, fire in his eyes.

"You know her?" Harvey's scowl grew deeper and deeper. "You actually know a cruddy _girl_?

"She's a friend." Lee said defensively. Harvey looked betrayed. _Friends with a girl_? His face seemed to say. Suddenly, Prince Sandy's eyes narrowed as he watched the exchange.

"Are _you_ Billy Smith?"

"No," Lee said, irritated. "I'm Numbuh 84." _Who was Billy Smith anyway? _Prince Sandy's frown disappeared as he turned to Sonya.

"We will soon be married, my darling!" Lee clenched his fists as Prince Sandy continued. "It looks like Billy Smith isn't going to show up."

"Of course he will." Sonya retorted."I don't even _want _to marry you - so back off!"

Sandy growled in anger. "You're marrying me! Right now!" Queen Sandy watched with interest.

"But Billy isn't here yet!" Ignoring her protests, Prince Sandy grabbed her by the arm, and proceeded to drag her down the aisle. Lee felt unreasonably furious. He clenched his teeth.

"Uh, Numbuh 84?" Tommy asked nervously. "What are you doing?" The prince was forcibly stopped by the boy in the ushanka, who roughly yanked him around.

"I'm only doing this crud 'cause you can't make someone marry you!" Lee threateningly took out his yo-yo aiming it for Sandy's face. "That's just _not _cool." After Lee brought out his yo-yo, Sector W followed suit, and aimed their weapons at the knights and queen.

"Sister! Help!" Sandy screamed. Queen Shelly looked at him disgustedly."We're surrounded, brat. What am I supposed to do?" Sonya edged away from Sandy and toward Lee.

"We're leaving or at least, I am." Numbuh 363 threw his hands up in the air. "All of this to rescue a _girl_!" He stomped out of the castle, and the rest of his team quickly followed.

--

On the beach, Harvey scrutinized her. "Sonya, eh? You look familiar." Sonya cringed.

"I live in the neighborhood." She shifted her feet nervously. "I should get back…" Sonya ran off as quickly as she could. Paddy's eyes shifted to Lee.

"What," Lee said, instantly on guard.

"A friend that's a girl…" started Paddy with a grin. "Must be…" _Oh no._

"Your _girl_friend." snickered Harvey.

"No!" Lee turned beet-red as his friends hooted with laughter.

"Look at that! He's blushing!"

"Aw!" They mockingly made kissing noises.

"Impossible." Lee said stonily. "You guys are impossible." But ironically, an image of Sonya popped into his mind. He heard Prince Sandy's words. _"We will soon be married, my darling!" _He smirked. _Sorry, Prince Sandy._

--

A desolate Prince Sandy stared out from his castle. He vowed to himself. _When I become king next year, I _will _marry a be-yoot-iful girl!_ His eyes blazed ambitiously. _No one will stop me, next time…_

* * *

_I absolutely loved Operation Beach - which is the inspiration for this chapter. This can also be used to explain why Sandy is so obsessed about marrying a girl in the actual series. Thanks for reading!_


	7. Good Night

**Chapter 7**.

"Numbuh 84!" The entire sector cringed when they saw him come down for breakfast. "What happened to you?" His hair was a mess, his ushanka was on crookedly, his clothes were wrinkled, and his eyes, bloodshot. He yawned.

"I couldn't get much sleep last night." He rubbed his eyes tiredly. Sonya sat next to him. He froze.

"A bad dream?" She poured more rainbow munchies into her bowl.

"You could say that." Lee said cautiously. Sonya nodded sympathetically and went back to eating her breakfast. Lee sighed in relief, glad she stopped questioning him. Tommy gazed at him carefully. "What?"

"Can I talk to you, after breakfast?"

"Yeah, sure, Numbuh T."

--------------------------------------------

"You've been acting weirder and weirder ever since Numbuh 83 joined our sector."

"What are you talking about, Numbuh T?"

"Gee," Tommy said sarcastically, "I don't know. You and Numbuh 83 always disappear off somewhere. You've turned red so many times, I've lost count. You've been sleeping badly these days, and that last mission at the beach? You got mad because Prince Sandy was about to marry her, not because it wasn't cool.

Lee turned red so quickly, Tommy guessed that he was right. He took another wild guess. "I guess she's kind of cute." Lee stiffened.

"What, do you like her now?" He said, more harshly than he meant to.

"No," Tommy said, "I was trying to figure out if you liked her." Lee fell off his chair.

"No!" He looked at Tommy desperately. "She's one of my best friends! Emphasis on _friends. _Tommy looked at him slyly. "Oh, really. So, if I asked her out for ice cream, you wouldn't get mad?"

"Yeah." Lee crossed his arms stubbornly.

"Okay, fine, Numbuh 84. But she was talking to me yesterday, and she said she liked someone."

"What?" Lee jumped up from the ground. "Who? Tell me, Tommy!" He winked at Lee.

"That's a secret." Lee lunged at Tommy, and tackled him to the ground. "Hey!" They began to wrestle.

"Tell me, tell me!" Lee said, getting Tommy in a neck bind. Tommy threw Lee off, and sat on him. Lee struggled angrily. The rest of the sector rushed into the room.

"Numbuh T, Numbuh 84! I order you to stop!"

"Guys, stop fighting! You're friends!" Sonya pleaded.

"Pull them off, each other!" Numbuh 83 held back a struggling Lee, while Numbuh 85 and Numbuh 363 held back Tommy.

"We better take them into the medical room for band-aids," said a grim-faced Paddy.

-------------------------------

_The dream. Back at the castle, Sonya was thanking him._

"_Thank you so much. So much, that I will give you what you want most."_

"_Cool." He had said, thinking he would get to go the the world's biggest yo-yo museum. _

_Sonya blushed, leaned forward, and gave him a light kiss on the cheek._

----------------------------------

"Numbuh 84, what were you guys fighting about?"

"Nothing," he said quickly. "Don't worry about it." Sonya rolled her eyes.

"Whatever, Numbuh 84." She put the band-aid on his cut. She hesitated.

"What?" She leaned forward, and kissed him on his cheek. Lee froze. This was another one of his dreams, wasn't it?

"A kiss to make it all better."

----------------------------------

"Wah!" Lee woke up again in horror. What was happening to him? He picked up the clock by his bed, and squinted. 4 A.M. Then it had all been a dream. Everything. Waking up, the conversation with Tommy, the fight, the kisses.

Lee fell back on his bed, and tried to go to sleep.

-------------------------------

"Numbuh 84!" The entire sector cringed when they saw him come down for breakfast. "What happened to you?" His hair was a mess, his ushanka was on crookedly, his clothes were wrinkled, and his eyes, bloodshot.

"Am I dreaming again?" He asked grumpily. Sonya reached over and pinched him hard.

"Ow!"

"Obviously not. You're so _dumb_ sometimes." Sonya grinned. Lee stared at her, then quickly looked away. He was blushing again.


	8. Uncle

**Chapter 8**

* * *

Something odd was going on in Sector W. Something wasn't right. Numbuh 363 threw down his helmet angrily onto the floor of the treehouse, before scrambling up the ladder to the top bunk of his bed. He didn't know what it was, but he was going to find out. That was his mission for tomorrow. Heaving one, last, satisfied sigh, he fell asleep.

Unfortunately for Numbuh 363, his _planned_ mission had to be put on hold when the treehouse alarms began to blare out the news of an "official" mission.

"What!" Numbuh 363 eyes blazed in barely-restrained fury. "That amateur Sector F thinks that they can beat us? When did you get the report?"

"Promptly 8:30 this morning, Numbuh 363," chirped Numbuh 83. _Holy crud, _thought Numbuh 84. _Stop sounding like such a girl!_

"And they said, _what_ exactly?"

"That they can beat us in any challenge, any day. That when and if, we both become actual sectors in the KND….um…" Paddy stopped, bewildered by the red veins in Harvey's eyeballs stretching bigger…and bigger….

"Go on, 85!" Numbuh 363 screamed in anger. "What EXACTLY did they say!"

"That they'd kick our sorry butts all the way up to Moon Base." Lee said coolly, reading over Paddy's shoulder.

"Impossible! How _dare_ those bald-headed, Uno-imitation, overachieving -!

"This isn't Sector V, 363," Numbuh T said, grinning. "It's Sector F."

"F for FAIL! As in, we will participate in their challenge, and we'll beat them at their own game! Numbuh T, take us to the location of the challenge."

"Seriously, 363? Are you going to really jump in at any old challenge -" Numbuh 363's eyes bulged in horror.

"Um, you know what?" Numbuh T scratched his head. "Never mind."

----

"A mission! It's been forever since we've gone a mission, you guys!"

"Cool it, Numbuh 83." Numbuh 83 grinned at Lee, not at all offended by his words.

"Aww, Numbuh 84, what's wrong?" She hopped into the seat next to him, and swung her legs carelessly. "It'll be fun!"

Lee wished he could feel as carefree as the girl who sat next to him, swinging her legs without a worry in the world. Did she not realize that Numbuh 363 knew something was up? Wasn't she worried that any day now, Numbuh 363 would find out she was a girl? Then what? Numbuh 363 wasn't the forgiving type.

With himself, Paddy, and Tommy running interference, they had managed to deter their leader from finding out that _rainbow monkey_ Sonya hid in her room, from seeing Sonya whenever her hat flew off her head showing her _long, blonde hair, _and…Lee smacked his forehead, of course _the beach incident_ when she met Sector W as Sonya…not Sonny_._ It was a miracle that Numbuh 363 hadn't discovered Numbuh 83's true gender.

"Don't worry, Numbuh 84." He felt Numbuh 83 whisper into his ear. "If Numbuh 363 hasn't found out yet, he won't _ever _find out." He looked at her incredulously.

"How did you…?" She laughed.

"We're seven years old. How many things can we be worried about?" He smiled. She was right.

----

"Area marked for landing…" muttered Numbuh T. He fiddled with the controls, while concentrating on the murky waters of the Amazon River. It's waters churned threateningly, and a bloody piranha jumped out of the water, trying to evade the sharp teeth of its own bloodthirsty colony. "Ready, Numbuh 85?" Paddy pushed buttons and turned knobs

"Ready!"

"Ready, 83, 84, 363?" They nodded grimly. Numbuh 363 growled low in his throat.

"Ready, Numbuh T." Tommy maneuvered the flying vehicle into landing position; feverishly praying that the F.L.O.A.T. mechanism he had added recently would work.

"Um, you've landed this thing before, haven't you Numbuh T?" He ignored Paddy's question.

"Numbuh TTTTTTT!" Sector W shrieked in panic, as the H.O.V.E.R.K.A.R. lurched and flipped twice before smoothly landing onto the river. To Tommy's relief, the F.L.O.A.T. worked fine.

As Tommy crowed about his flying expertise, his teammates staggered out of the H.O.V.E.R.K.A.R., wanting to vomit up the morning's Rainbow Munchies cereal. When he said he was probably going to be better than his brother and The Kid combined, Sector W gave him dirty looks. When Tommy suggested that they go on more around the world trips, it was just too much.

Before Sector W, could smack him, the jungle echoed with the cackling sound of a laughing man. Sector W was instantly on alert.

"Who's there?" Numbuh 363 asked angrily. "And what are _you_ laughing at? Come out, you coward!"

The thick fronds of a jungle fern parted to reveal an educated-looking man, with horn-rimmed glasses, and a book under his arm.

"So, you are the infamous Sector W." Harvey sneered.

"So, what's that to you, _adult._" The adult flipped through his little, brown book. "Ah..you must be Numbuh 363. Leader of Sector W, name Harvey McKenzie, yes, yes! Sister is _the_ Rachel McKenzie, Numbuh 362, the Soopreme Leader of the Kids Next Door…and has a fear of being touched." The man glanced sideways at the boy in the helmet, and reached for him.

"Yah! Don't touch me!" Harvey squealed. The man smirked. His smirk sent shivers of fear through Sector W.

"Next, Numbuh 84. Tactical Yo-Yo Specialist, name Lee Jameson. Catchphrase: cool. Numbuh T. 2x4 Technician, name Thomas Pennywhistle. Older brother is Numbuh 2, Hoagie Pennywhistle Jr. of the Kids Next Door, also a 2x4 Technician. Numbuh 85. Head of Diversionary Tactics, name Patrick "Paddy" Fulbright, sister to Francine "Fanny" Fulbright, who is the current Head of Decommissioning, Numbuh 86, at the Kids Next Door Moon Base. She hates boys, and you…ah…mwahaha…ha..ha..MWAHAHAHA!"

Sector W shrank back in fright, but continued to listen in horrified fascination. "_You_ received that horrible haircut from your father, Mr. Boss. You were a _freak show_ for _months_!" Paddy seemed to shrink as he hunched over, trying to hide from the bad memory.

"Hey! _Don't_ make fun of him!" The man in the brown suit whirled in surprise.

"_You_! Who are you?" Numbuh 83 glared.

"Numbuh 83 of Sector W!"

"Numbuh 83!" yelled Numbuh 84 in exasperation. "Don't _tell_ him!" Sonya looked down, embarrassed that she gave herself away. The man flipped through his little book quickly, thoroughly, and came to his conclusion.

"You must be new. I don't have any data on you." He rubbed his hands together gleefully. "But that's all right. A surprise makes things more interesting."

Numbuh 363 narrowed his eyes. "Who are you? How do you have so much data on us, on the Kids Next Door?"

"Let me introduce myself." He straightened his coat collar, and smoothed his tie. "I am Uncle."

----

"Uncle…" Numbuh 363 shook his head as the rest of the sector looked on quietly. "Are you related to _Father_?"

"Precisely, and I invited you all here today, to personally exterminate you, like the little termites you are."

Paddy shook. "S-s-s-ector F decided to challenge us, and that's why we're h-here. Right, guys?"

Numbuh 84 shook his head slowly. "Don't you get it yet, Numbuh 85? That was a lure to bring us here…it's a trap." Lee slowly looked around.

"And he's trapped us good." Tommy said grimly.

"What do you mean, Numbuh T?" Sonya whispered frantically. "Can't we take off on the H.O.V.E.R.K.A.R.?"

"Good question, Numbuh 83, was it?" Uncle rummaged into his pockets, and brought out a complicated-looking remote. "With this remote," he pressed a button, and a cage shot out of the underbrush, and nearly trapped Paddy, "I control everything in this part of the Amazon," he pressed a series of buttons, and ropes flew out from the branches above, toward Numbuh 363, surrounding him, entangling his arms and legs, as he flailed helplessly.

"Help! Helppp meeee!" Numbuh 363 choked out as the ropes began smothering him, entwining around the thick bulge of his neck, and rendering his stubborn fingers useless.

Sector W rushed to help, when they too, were caught up in the weaving masses of jungle vines.

"Already?" The man commented, bored. "You may be Sector W, but it's clear that you're not yet part of the Kids Next Door." Sector W struggled fruitlessly, as they hung in the air.

"Numbuh 363, what do we do?" Paddy cried. The man laughed.

"Nothing. There is nothing you can do. Except..." The man dangled the word tantalizingly in the air. Numbuh 363 looked at his teammates, Numbuh 85 shrieking, Numbuh T panting, Numbuh 84's yo-yo as helpless as its owner, and his newest recruit, Numbuh 83, with eyes that were wide and terrified. Numbuh 363 slumped in defeat.

"Tell me. What is it." Numbuh 363 gritted out. "What do we have to do?"

----

The vines brought Sector W and the man to a remote part of the jungle. The vines dropped Sector W only meters away from a cave.

"This is The Cave, the site of your challenge." Sector W looked warily. There were two openings, one with a crudely painted sign that read, ENTRANCE, and the other that read, EXIT. From what they could see, it looked normal on the outside, a hunk of rock with a hollowed out tunnel. However, the rest of the tunnel was hidden in a dark gloom. It could have hidden anything.

"I like to think of myself as a fair man," said Uncle. "Even though I have thoroughly trussed you all up like chickens, and I could destroy you _right now_, I want to give you kids a fighting chance." He smiled a fake smile. "Okay?"

"Now, the only thing you have to do, no, let me correct myself, the only thing _one_ of you has to do, is walk into the cave entrance, and come out the cave exit. Of course," he added as an afterthought, "no boy has ever come out The Cave again." He smirked.

"Walk through the cave, is that it?" Numbuh 363 said haughtily. "Then as leader of Sector W, _I'll_ accept your stupid challenge." He suddenly paused. "Nobody came out? Ever?"

Uncle grinned. "Never." Harvey paled, quickly regretting that he volunteered himself. Sonya was in deep thought. Subconsciously, her feet shifted, left foot to right. She twisted an imaginary lock of hair behind her ear. _Uncle said…no _boy_…if I'm a girl…would I have a better chance? _She bit her lip. Numbuh 84 realized what Numbuh 83 was going to do, too late. _Oh no._

"I'll go." Numbuh 83 said quietly. Numbuh 84 blocked her path to the cave entrance. He glared at her furiously.

"Not cool." Sonya looked at him. His shoes stuck firmly into the muddy ground, his arms crossed, his eyes locked on hers. _I won't let you go, _they said. .

"Please, Numbuh 83!" Tommy and Paddy shoved Lee out of the way, threw him onto the ground, sat on him. "We don't want to die!" They flung themselves at her feet, pleading and begging, despite the warning sparks shooting from Numbuh 84's eyes.

"Guys, stop it!" Numbuh 84 snapped. "Numbuh 83's our teammate. Our _newest_ recruit. Numbuh 83 could _die_ in there!" Tommy and Paddy ignored him, hearing only the words Uncle had slipped. _No boy has ever come out alive._

"Please, Numbuh 83, _please_! You heard what he said…you heard them, right? You go! Please!" Numbuh 363 was taken aback that his teammates were so adamant that Numbuh 83 go. Numbuh 83, the newbie. Numbuh 83, the least experienced of them all. He was also about to protest until he realized that if it weren't Numbuh 83 to go, it would be him.

"Go, Numbuh 83!" He shouted encouragingly, along with Tommy and Paddy. Sonya nodded once, looked at Lee once, and then dashed toward the cave entrance.

"Hey!" Lee yelled at her running figure in panic. "Come back, Numbuh 83, where do you think you're going! Do you think you're being cool? You're not!" Lee struggled violently from under the three bodies of Paddy, Harvey, and chubby, little Numbuh T. "Ugh, get off!" He said furiously. To their surprise, he threw them off, and sprinted toward the cave entrance. He got within a meter, until the trio tackled him again.

----

Sonya continued her mad dash into the cave, despite Numbuh 84's angry protests. The last thing she was able to make out was his threat that she better come out alive, or else. _Numbuh 84. _Her eyes blurred with new tears, tears that froze on her face when the cave opened up into a grand arena. She cast the torch around wildly, certain that somewhere, there was a monster that would tear her apart.

_Thud. Thud. _Her eyes darted around and found the enemy. It was a lovable, huggable, monster-sized rainbow monkey. Sonya's jaw dropped. _Thud. Thud._

"I'm coming!" The rainbow monkey put one heavy foot in front of the other. "Come and give me a hug!" Sonya turned around to run back where she had come from, but its furry arms plucked her off the ground, and gave her a hug that left her gasping for breath, and her limbs feeling weak. The rainbow monkey studied her form on its hand as she watched it warily. It grabbed her again, a sudden movement that she could barely see. "Rainbow Monkey Tea Time for Meeting New Friends!" It moved through the cave, and dropped her onto a table by a platter full of mega-sized birthday cakes, tiramisus, blueberry muffins, and strawberry cassavas. The rainbow monkey reached for a teacup, and Sonya stared in fascination at the monster Rainbow Monkey who was able to sip so daintily from a teacup the size of its thumb.

"Excuse me," Sonya said politely. "I was wondering if you've ever had tea time guests before?" The rainbow monkey nodded its massive head, a grin lighting up its colorful face. "Um, do you know where they are?" The rainbow monkey giggled, a high-pitched, sweet sound.

"Would you like to meet them?" Sonya's eyes lit up.

"You mean they're still alive? I would love to meet them!" The rainbow monkey tittered again.

"Okay!" It's hand shot out and smothered Sonya in its heavy grip. Her muffled shrieks became louder and louder as the rainbow monkey lifted her up with its powerful hands, and dropped her into its mouth. With a start, Sonya rolled away from the white molars that nearly crushed her legs. She screamed as its tongue tried to prod her back to its waiting teeth. Her head ringing in panic, Sonya thought she heard a voice.

"Jump down its throat!" _What? _

"Jump down its throat, now!" Sonya clawed her way across its tongue, but stopped just short of its trachea. It was an unknown, dark tunnel. Sonya shivered and hesitated, but as the tongue tried to force her back to its teeth, she took a deep breath and dove straight down its esophagus.

----

Numbuh 83's screams rolled out of the cave again and again. Numbuh 84 lunged toward the entrance for the seventh time, but once again, the members of his team held him back.

"Crud! Crud! Crud! Let go before…" he couldn't finish. "Numbuh 83 needs me - us! He needs all of us, you guys!"

"We know, Numbuh 84, we know! But the challenge rules say…"

"I know what the challenge rules say!" Lee snapped. Paddy fell silent.

"Cool it, Numbuh 84. Isn't that what you always say?" Lee's head snapped up angrily, but Numbuh 363 continued, heedless. "You hate it, yeah. We all hate it, but we have to stay out here. If you go in, if _anyone_ goes in to help Numbuh 83, it's over for all of us. Numbuh 83 took the chance, he ran in of his own accord, we all saw that." Lee looked back toward the cave. "Numbuh 84, we have to believe in him. We are Sector W. All of us, you, me, Numbuh T, Numbuh 85, _and_ Numbuh 83. We're all destined to be in the Kids Next Door. So he'll make it out. Don't worry. It's destiny."

But Numbuh 84 was only partly listening. He had become aware that the screaming had stopped.

"Hey, you guys hear anything?" He said strangely.

"Hear what?" Tommy asked. He fell silent. Suddenly aware. Nobody spoke. They waited. From a nearby distance, Uncle chuckled.

"The Cave never lets me down."

----

"Here comes another one!" Sonya fell down the esophagus, and onto a blanket that was held up by boys - all the boys that had failed the challenge. Sonya bounced up and down as these things ran through her mind. Suddenly, she felt herself land on the floor, the blanket suddenly dropped, and herself surrounded by boys…boys with hats, boys with flip-flips, boys with hair as red as Paddy's.

"I'm Numbuh 72," said the boy who seemed to be the leader of the rest. She couldn't help but stare at the shocks of blonde hair that sprung out of his head like bedsprings.

"Numbuh 83. Sector W," Sonya said, still staring. She shook her head. "You guys are still _alive_? What about your sectors?"

"We're all here. After one of us fails the challenge, that Monster," he shuddered, "storms out of the cave to eat up the rest of the team." Sonya looked around.

"You guys are all in boys-only sectors?"

"We think the rest of our teams are separated by that wall."

"You _think_?"

"Well, it's soundproof…and Uncle wouldn't want any girls to get mixed in with us." Sonya started in surprise.

"What do you mean?"

"Well…" Another of the boys brought out a clipboard with a thick stack of papers. "Uncle is pretty confident, so he left us with a riddle. If we figure it out, everyone will be freed, but after all this time, we've only figured out one part." Sonya stared at the papers. On the left-hand side were pictures of rainbow monkeys in every edition, on the right was a line.

"For the things' names." Numbuh 72 said in disgust. "But how are we supposed to know that? We're stuck here good." Sonya glanced around the room. No girls. No wonder. Clearly, Uncle would target the boys.

"Who got the one?" Sonya asked. _Take-It-Every-Time-You-Go-Anywhere Rainbow Monkey._

"Um, me." Numbuh 72 muttered, embarrassed. "That one is my twin sister's favorite. Anyway," he continued, "I don't expect you to know any, but if you did…" he trailed off and stared open-mouthed as Sonya finished filling out the first page, and went to the next.

"No way…" The other boys crowded around Sonya. It was silent, but the atmosphere began to grow heavy with longing and hope. To be free again and play in the grass and shoot each other with water guns. To eat pizza and hamburgers cooked with drippy, greasy oil, not the nasty oatmeal they were rationed out by Uncle every morning. The boys watched in silent awe as Sonya continued to speed through the pages.

"How…?" asked Numbuh 72 in amazement.

"Boy-Girl Relations Specialist," Sonya said curtly.

"Hmm…" Numbuh 72 was deep in thought. There was no way _any_ guy could know so much about rainbow monkeys.

"And it's not because you're a girl?"

"Of course not!" Numbuh 72 hesitated, then reached over to pull off her cap. There was a collective gasp.

" 'Cuz you sure look like one." He said teasingly. To his surprise, Sonya dropped the clipboard and launched herself at him, threateningly holding him by the collar of his shirt.

"You better not tell the leader of my sector…AND THAT INCLUDES ALL OF YOU GUYS!" Everyone quickly nodded, fearful of provoking her further. Sonya dropped the trembling Numbuh 72 onto the ground, readjusted her hat, and proceeded to name the rainbow monkeys.

----

A groaning began. The cavern split open, and the ground shook violently dropping Sector W flat on their faces.

"And it seems that time is already up." Uncle said gleefully. The monster rainbow monkey loomed out of the cavern.

_Thud. Thud._ Its slow and heavy footsteps brought it closer to Sector W. Uncle watched eagerly as it stopped, lifted its mechanical arms, and tore open its own stomach.

Uncle's jaw dropped.

Boys, boys, and girls poured out of the rainbow monkey, whooping and cheering. It was a chaotic group that ran to reunite with their teammates, and in the midst of it all was Numbuh 83, holding the clipboard.

"Here you go, Uncle!" She threw it like a Frisbee into his stomach. His eyes bulged as he flipped through the completed pages. As he got to the end, a vein bulged on his forehead.

"Vines!" he yelled. He punched buttons on his control, and vines shot out toward Numbuh 83, and wrapped around her petite, little body. As everyone stood frozen in shock, Uncle marched forward, and as Numbuh 83 stared open-mouthed, he pulled off her hat. Yellow locks came tumbling down.

----

"I knew it." Uncle's eyes glowed red. "I knew a boy would never be able to figure it out." But Sonya was not looking at Uncle. She was watching Harvey. His eyes turned from shock to cold fury. His blue eyes made her shiver when he glanced at her, but then he turned to gaze to Uncle.

"Let Numbuh 83 go." His cold eyes seem to glow blue.

"No." Uncle smirked. "As if you brats could do anything anyway."

"If you don't let Numbuh 83 go, we will _all_ fight against you." Numbuh 363 gestured to the assembled kid army. Without another word, Uncle pressed some buttons on his control. The vines freed Numbuh 83, and the ground opened up beneath Uncle, then closed up again. Uncle had disappeared.

A ragged cheer started up among the survivors, and Numbuh T and Numbuh 85 went around to the sectors.

"Can you guys get home? Need any supplies?" Everyone shook his or her head.

"We're future KND. We're always prepared." So grinning, everyone parted ways, until eventually, only Sector W was left. Rather than light-hearted and triumphant, the atmosphere was sullen and full of uncertainty.

Numbuh 363 asked one thing. "So you're a girl?" He said to Sonya as they boarded the H.O.V.E.R.K.A.R. Sonya nodded, too scared to speak. The whole ride home, no one said a word. Numbuh T was unusually attentive in driving the H.O.V.E.R.K.A.R., Numbuh 85 was unduly fascinated in looking out the window. Numbuh 363 sat, arms crossed, eyebrows furrowed, a thundercloud over his head.

Sonya swung her feet. In a bit, she pushed a lock of hair behind her ear, her hat left somewhere in the jungles of the Amazon. Before she could subconsciously bite her lip, Lee took a hold of her shaking hand, radiating warmth and calm. She found the courage to look up from the ground and found the answer in his eyes. _I will protect you. _

* * *


	9. Numbuh 363

**Chapter 9**

* * *

Sonya felt peace. Peace so complete and good, it enveloped her entire being with the aroma and squishy comfort of cotton candy. Sonya did not blush, and she didn't feel her body prickle with anxiety at Lee's touch. It felt good, it felt natural…it felt right. Sonya wanted to lean on Lee's shoulder and sleep - be shuttled off to a world without Harvey's angry face.

_But you know? _Sonya thought drowsily. _This world isn't bad either. Not now, _and Sonya drifted off to sleep, feeling peace, calm, and the warmth of Lee's hand.

----

_This girl._ Lee thought, astonished. _How can she fall asleep at a time like this?_ He cautiously looked over at Harvey and found an angry scowl etched into his face. He knew Numbuh 363's silence could not last. _For what it's worth, sweet dreams, Numbuh 83. _He shifted his grip on her hand, but never let go.

_----_

When the H.O.V.E.R.K.A.R. landed at the treehouse, something inside Numbuh 363 snapped. Numbuh 83 was a _girl, a girl, a girl, a GIRL! _

"I can't believe _you're_ a girl!" He screamed as soon as they all stepped foot into the treehouse. Sonya shifted her feet from side to side. She couldn't bring herself to look him in the eyes just yet. "Let me get this straight. You're a 100%, full-blooded GIRL! Am I right?!" Sonya hesitated, then nodded nervously.

"What's your real name?"

"It's…it's…"

"ANSWER ME, GIRL!" Sonya felt irritated. After all they've been through as a team, this was what she amounted to? Not Numbuh 83, but _Girl_?

"Sonya." Numbuh 83 said meekly, in contrast to her actual feelings. She watched Numbuh 363's face grow redder and redder. He abruptly turned away from her as if he could not longer stand to see her. She felt a vein pop. _Why…you…_Numbuh 363 relaunched his tirade at the rest of Sector W.

"Why aren't the rest of you saying anything? What's the matter with you guys?" Nobody answered him. Harvey's voice was dangerously quiet.

"I think you guys are all missing the point." He took a deep breath and roared, "She's a cruddy GIRL!"

"So?" Numbuh 84 replied calmly.

"You knew, didn't you, Numbuh 84?" Lee simply nodded. "Why the heck didn't you tell me?" Numbuh 363 exploded in anger. "She's a cruddy girl! We can't have a girl on _our_ team!"

Numbuh 84 looked at his team leader coldly. "That's why, Numbuh 363. You would have kicked her out."

Tommy and Paddy slowly walked between Lee and Harvey.

"Numbuh 363, what if we don't kick her off the team…" Numbuh T quaked when he saw Harvey's expression.

"What!"

"She's not too bad - for a girl." Paddy managed to say in a strained voice.

"Exactly," sneered Numbuh 363. "She's a girl." He received glares. "What's the matter with you guys! Don't you understand? We can't have a girl on our team; it'll slow us down!" As he looked around for support, he found none in the hard eyes of his teammates. "It's your fault!" He choked out. He shoved a finger in Sonya's face. "Your fault, you cruddy _girl_! Your fault that nobody on the team is on my side!" Sonya's eyes widened.

"No! That's not it! Please don't get upset with them, Numbuh 363, it's really all my fault to begin with! I know I lied, and I'm _sorry_. I'm really, really sorry! Just let me stay on the team, Numbuh 363, please!"

"And what would you do to stay on the team, _girl_? How far would you go to show you're sorry?" Sonya did not hear the danger in his voice, and only heard the chance that he was offering her.

"I'll do anything!" Numbuh 83 said in a pleading voice. "Just tell me how I can make it up to you."

"Stay in a dark room -by yourself for _one_ day." Sonya froze, her face quickly turning white. _Oh no. Oh please no. Anything but that. _She began shaking in fear.

Harvey smirked at her reaction. "That's _all_ you have to do. Nobody up at Moon Base can accuse me of being harsh." Numbuh 363's cocky, narrow eyes suddenly widened.

"W-w-what are you doing, Numbuh 84?" Numbuh 363 was forced to back up in fright as a furious Numbuh 84 stood up, and walked to stand in between his leader and teammate.

"_Not_ cool." As Numbuh 84 turned around to glance at Numbuh 83's huddled, shaking frame, his anger increased ten-fold. No longer anger, but rage. Numbuh 363 didn't show it, but he was scared of this Numbuh 84, this Lee that he had never seen.

"H-hey…calm down, Numbuh 84." His impassive face made Harvey cringe. "I-I…"Something inside Numbuh 363 roared as he felt his authority slipping away.

"Exactly long have you known she was a girl, Numbuh 84?" He sneered. "You must have known for a while - sticking so close to that _girl_, protecting her, keeping up that lie. What's the matter with you, Numbuh 84 - she's a girl! We can't have a girl on the team!"

Numbuh 84 looked at their leader coldly. "And so what if she's a girl?" Numbuh 363 was a little spooked by the venom in Numbuh 84's voice. Nevertheless, he carried on.

"So what? How could you say that? She's a-crud-dy g-ir-l!"

"And? Am I supposed to care if she's a girl or not?" Harvey's jaw dropped.

"What do you _mean_, so what, Numbuh 84? Have you forgotten our pact? Our goal to be the Kids Next Door's boys-only sector because girls are worse in every way? Girls are _weaker_, girls are _slower_, girls are _stupider_…" Something inside Numbuh 83 ignited.

"You annoying, buck-toothed PEST!" She yelled from behind Numbuh 84. Numbuh 84 looked at her curiously. Amidst his mildly shocked expression, amusement flickered across his face.

"Um, Numbuh 83..." Numbuh T said timidly, "now's not exactly the time to…"

"WHAT DID YOU JUST CALL ME!" Numbuh 363 roared in anger.

"…antagonize Numbuh 363..." Sonya bowed her head in shame. _He was right. _

"But Numbuh 363..." Paddy hesitated, then continued, shaking. "Numbuh 83 saved us with our battle against Uncle _because _she's a girl!" Numbuh 83 felt warm inside. _Numbuh 85, thank you!_

"Are you trying to say something, Numbuh 85?" Harvey seethed.

"W-w-w-well, j-just that _most _girls can't cut it, but Numbuh 83 isn't too bad…for a _girl, _and that even if she is a _girl_, she did a lot of the missions with us, and I think that's worth taking into account, and I mean ask yourself honestly, is she really _that _bad?" The warmth Sonya felt seconds earlier, dissipated. _Numbuh 85! Really? Is that what you were able to come up with? _

"And are you telling me you forgot about our battle with the Old Geezer? _This girl_ helped you get your basketball back. _This girl_ risked danger along with us when we went up against the Medicine Man _and_ Mr. Perfecto Lawnman and Mrs. Perfecta Housewife _and _when we tried to save Numbuh 85's older sister from her rainbow monkey. And back against that fight with Uncle, you decided to help her too when he had her at his mercy!" Sonya's eyes watered in gratitude. _Numbuh T, thank you!_

"Well, well!" Numbuh 363 sputtered, "I'd rather save any kid over any adult, any day! And don't try to change the subject; we're going to get the bottom of this. How to rid our team of a girl!"

"Don't you get it, Numbuh 363? We're _already _a team. Sonya isn't _just _a girl. She's Numbuh 83." A smile threatened to break through her carefully constructed face of apology.

On Harvey's part, was only silence.

"And, and," Tommy took a deep breath. "Since she's a girl in a boy sector, I bet she'll be the best Boy-Girl Relations Officer in the history of the Kids Next Door!"

Harvey scowled, but in a matter of seconds, one side of his mouth suddenly twitched upward into a smirk.

"Fine. I'll accept the girl as Numbuh 83, _after_ she spends one day in the dark."

"Cork it, Harvey!" Lee snapped.

"N-no. I'll do it."

"No, you won't." Numbuh 84 said furiously. He turned to their leader. "Numbuh 363, this really isn't fair."

"Oh, first I'm Harvey, but now I'm Numbuh 363 again?" Numbuh 363 sneered. "I'm not changing my mind. Until she spends a day in the dark, that girl is not in Sector W."

"Don't be too sure about that."

"Wha-wha-WHAT? Are you questioning my authority?" He screeched angrily.

"Stop it guys, stop! We're supposed to be a team." Numbuh 83 said, looking worriedly between Lee and Harvey. Harvey turned towards her.

"Um…" said Numbuh 83, and then Numbuh 363 tackled her into the ground.

"You're not on my team! You'll never be on any team of mine! Who do you think you are?" He managed to scream before he was bowled over by the rest of Sector W.

"That's enough, Harvey."

"I'm back to Harvey again?" Numbuh 363 taunted.

"Right now, you don't deserve a Numbuh. Let's go, Numbuh 83. We'll deal with all this _crud_ later." Sonya picked herself up, brushed off her clothes, and followed him, giving a final glance toward a shocked-looking Harvey who looked as anyone would look if he had just been abandoned by his best friend.

After a moment's hesitation, Numbuh 85 and Numbuh T followed after their other two teammates, and Numbuh 363 was left all alone to deal with his wounded pride.

"You'll regret it! You'll regret it! You'll regret it!" He shouted after his teammates. "You'll regret turning my best friend against me." He mumbled ominously. "You'll regret it, you awful girl."

----

"Thank you, Numbuh 84."

"Anytime, Numbuh 83." Lee smiled warmly at her, but nevertheless he looked preoccupied. Paddy also exchanged a worried glance with Tommy. He whispered so that Sonya couldn't hear.

"Numbuh 84 was right, defending Numbuh 83 and all, but…" Tommy nodded grimly.

"Numbuh 363 isn't going to be happy."

"Well, duh."

"I mean, he's not going to just let this go, he's going to do something about it, being the Harvey that he is…but I don't know what." They spotted Sonya walking towards them, and immediately stopped talking.

"Numbuh 85, Numbuh T. Thank you." Sonya said, biting her lip. They both smiled hiding their anxieties for the moment.

"Don't worry about it, Numbuh 83."

"Yeah, as far as we are concerned, you're already a part of Sector W."

"Aw…you guys!" Sonya beamed. "Group hug!" Paddy looked horrified.

"I remember now why I didn't want any girls on the team!"

"Who would want a hug from _you_?" Lee teased, smirking.

"No!!! I don't want cooties!" Tommy said in mock terror.

"You guys!" Sonya shook her head at their typical boyish reactions, but smiled despite herself. Boys they may be, but they had just proved to be the type of friends she would want forever.

----

The room flickered with shadows created by the only light of the room, the computer screen. And by the computer, someone typed with considerable skill, and a heart full of a considerable amount of humiliation, anger, and the desire for the ultimate revenge.

"You'll get what's coming to you, _girl_." He muttered feverishly. A window popped up. For a second, he hesitated. Did she really deserve this? The guilt passed over his conscience quickly. His hand shaking, he maneuvered the mouse, he clicked OK.

The screen flickered with the words:

Operative Numbuh 83 is scheduled for decommissioning.

----

"What?" Numbuh 85 turned pale.

"Yep. I thought you knew, Paddy. Someone in your sector's going to get decommissioned tomorrow."

"But that's not possible, we're all seven!"

"Well, I did think it was odd," she admitted. "But Numbuh 83 _is _the one in your sector, right?"

"Yes, but I'm telling you, she's seven like the rest of us! Oh, I know! Tell Moon Base they've got a mistake! _You_ know she's not thirteen!"

"Numbuh 85, that doesn't matter. If the computer says you're set for decommissioning, you're going to _get _decommissioned."

"But we're all seven!"

"Look, Paddy…life isn't always fair, and…"

"But we're not even officially in the Kids Next Door yet!"

"What did I just tell you, you stupid _boy_!" Paddy quailed under her screech. Her impatience was visibly and audibly thinning. So typical of his fiery, older sister. "Well?"

"You're so scary!" He wailed as he ran out of the room. "Nobody's ever going to want to date _you!_"

"Oh yeah?" Numbuh 86's screech echoed down the stairs. "Nobody's going to want to date a crybaby like you either!"

Numbuh 85 sat blubbering outside his house. "How am I ever supposed to tell, Numbuh 83? I can't, I can't, it's too awful!" _But…_Numbuh 85 looked up, his face streaked with tears…_I have to tell her. I have to tell her right now. _

_----_

"What's wrong, Numbuh 85?" Sonya looked up as she sucked on a lollipop. Sector W stared as Paddy walked stiffly forward.

"Numbuh 83 is going to get decommissioned tomorrow," he said, nearly in tears.

"What?" Numbuh 84 said, disbelievingly.

"What!" Numbuh T fell off the couch. _Thud._ He scrambled up. "What are you talking about, Numbuh 85?"

"My sister told me." Numbuh 85's eyes watered. "And we can't do anything about it either; we can't change what's in the Moon Base computer...there's nothing we can do!"

"Um…what's decommissioning?" Silence met her words. Sonya tried again, biting her lip. "You guys?"

Numbuh 84 stood up, shaking.

"Numbuh 84?" Sonya asked, worried. He ran out of the room, throwing the door open violently. "Numbuh 84!" She turned to Paddy and Tommy in bewilderment. "Guys, what's going on? What's decommissioning? Is it really that bad?"

----

"NUMBUH 363!" The door to the room was flung open, and with it was Numbuh 84. His dark eyes looked even darker than usual, and Numbuh 363 trembled when he felt Numbuh 84's aura of rage. It was the same as the afternoon. He found himself afraid of the normally calm and collected, cool and dependable, Numbuh 84. "YOU ARE GOING TO DIE."

No it wasn't quite the same. Right now, Numbuh 363 was positively quaking with fear.

"Calm down, Numbuh 84!" Numbuh 363 said frantically. "Calm down! HOLY CRUD - CALM DOWN! Don't take out your yo-yo, what are you doing!"

"YOU MORON!" Numbuh 84 swung his yo-yo, and it rapidly began to pick up speed. It was no longer a toy, but a weapon. A colorful and dangerous piece of plastic.

"Don't, don't, don't! You're attacking your own teammate, I'm your leader, I'm telling you to stand down. STAND DOWN!" Numbuh 363 screamed as Numbuh 84's favorite yo-yo shot an inch past his ear, and slammed into the wall. _Boom!_ Dust and chips of wood rained down on the floor, as well as pieces of the yo-yo.

"WERE YOU TRYING TO KILL ME?"

"Dunno." Lee snarled.

"What d'ya mean, _dunno_?" Harvey screamed. "That -," he pointed to the smoking remains of the yo-yo lodged in the wall, "almost happened to my _head_!"

"Just consider yourself lucky that my yo-yo didn't scramble your brains, 'cause you deserved it, _pal_." Lee silently pulled out another yo-yo.

"And what do you think you're going to do with that?" Harvey shrilled in panic.

"You tell me." Lee swung the yo-yo around rapidly. "Around the World." He made the yo-yo skid across the wooden slats. "Walk the Dog." More fast movements. "Texas Star. Rattlesnake. Through the Tunnel. Shoot the Moon."

"Numbuh 84?" Harvey eyeballed the spinning yo-yo anxiously.

"I learned all these tricks for fun. Then I mastered them so I could join the Kids Next Door as part of your sector. But now, I don't know. Who are you, Numbuh 363? You don't seem like any kind of decent kid to me."

"Huh?"

"Don't act dumb." Lee snarled.

"You're the one who barely talks…" Harvey muttered.

"HOW DARE YOU DECOMMISSION NUMBUH 83!"

"I knew what I was doing." With a deafening crash, the yo-yo slammed into the wall on the other side of Numbuh 363's head. The force shattered the yo-yo into a mass of plastic pieces.

Since Numbuh 363 knew perfectly well how good Numbuh 84's aim was, he began to feel slightly more confident. Numbuh 84 didn't hate him enough to actually hurt him, and in time, he'd be sure they'd be good friends again.

"What a waste." Numbuh 363 said brazenly in the midst of falling debris. He shook his head. "Two of your yo-yos are broken, and one of them was your favorite too, if it were me, I wouldn't have used that one but another one instead…" Numbuh 363 stopped as Numbuh 84 stared at him disbelievingly.

"How could you _do_ that?" Numbuh 84 said quietly. Numbuh 363 again felt the insistent stabbing of guilt that kept popping up so inconveniently. Yet, he defended himself.

"I hacked into the Moon Base computer system and…" Numbuh 363 stared at the floor. "And so what! She's a girl! Okay?" Numbuh 363 squirmed as he felt Numbuh 84's eyes on him. Eyes full of disgust.

"Don't you get it, we're all friends! When you thought she was a boy, you were friends with Numbuh 83 too. Believe it or not, you thought she was a pretty good KND operative, that is, until you found out she was a girl, and then your _stupid_ cockiness wouldn't let it go!"

"Num-numbuh 84?"

"What were you thinking? I can't believe this!"

"Numbuh 84, I've never seen you like this!"

"CRUD! CRUD! Crud! Crud! Crud! I hate this, I hate this, I HATE THIS!" Numbuh 363 felt a sickening wrench in his gut seeing a calm Numbuh 84 completely, utterly, losing it.

"Numbuh 84," Numbuh 363 tried to placate his friend in vain. "Wait! Wait!" The sound of a slamming door answered his pleas. As the silence of his isolation surrounded him, Numbuh 363 scowled deeply. He hated it when he doubted himself, and he was greatly doubting his decision now.

----

"Um, what's decommissioning?"

"You forget." Tommy said curtly. .

"What?" Sonya looked at Paddy and Tommy in confusion.

"You forget everything." Paddy said, looking down, unable to meet her eyes. "Everything related to the Kids Next Door. So…you won't remember us, after decommissioning."

"No way…" Sonya said in disbelief. "I can't believe it, I won't believe it, I won't! I won't!" Numbuh 84 trudged into the room forlornly. _Even after all that, I still can't hit Harvey. Ugh._ "Numbuh 84," Sonya ran to him, "at least _you_ tell me the truth - Numbuh 85 and Numbuh T haveto be lying…how can it be true, I can't forget you guys, not after all we've been through!"

"Yeah." Numbuh 84 was unable to meet her eyes. "It's true." After Numbuh 84's verification, Sonya's face crumpled in despair.

"What…no!" Her face turned white in panic. "I don't want to forget. I don't want to forget anything! I want to stay friends with you guys!" Memories of her life a scant few weeks ago returned. She didn't have true friends, not like these.

Only girls who wanted her rainbow monkeys. Only boys who pulled her pigtails and laughed as they ran away. She knew instinctively that right now, her place in life was with Sector W. There could be no equivalent. "No! I won't!" She flared up angrily, her vision blurring. Whether they were tears of sadness or furious tears of anger, she didn't know. All she knew was that her entire self was charged with emotion. "I won't get decommissioned," she said in a tone of determined refusal. "Or at least, I won't forget. I won't!" She repeated stubbornly.

Numbuh 85 wailed. "It's hopeless, Numbuh 83." _Hopeless…hopeless…_Sonya ran out the room, the word ringing in her head, taunting her mercilessly. _Hopeless…hopeless…It's all hopeless. _

* * *

_It was pretty difficult to write this chapter...I wasn't sure how the oh-my-gosh, Numbuh 83 is a girl! conflict should be played out. But! Here it is, so I hope you enjoyed!_


	10. System Not Responding

**Chapter 10**

* * *

"Numbuh 363! Numbuh 363!" Sonya pounded the door to his room.

"Leave me alone, you _girl_." He said, half-heartedly. The rest of the day, he had been miserable. Realizing increasingly that his rashly-made decision to schedule Numbuh 83 for decommissioning was an awful one, he had swiveled back and forth on his favorite chair, thinking.

Yes - he wasn't happy having a girl on his team. Yes - he hated that she managed to trick him. Yes - he was resentful that she had turned his teammates against him. Yes - he wanted her to regret _ever_ crossing Harvey K. McKenzie.

Yes - For a girl, she wasn't bad. Yes - as a new recruit, she had taken on villains pretty darn well. Yes - considering her phobia of the dark, his ultimatum was too harsh.

"Numbuh 363, _please_!Don't decommission me! I'll stay in a dark room by myself for _two_ days! _Anything_ but decommissioning!" He winced at the sound of her strangled sob.

Yes - she deserved another chance.

Numbuh 363 did not answer her, but instead turned to the computer. Some rehacking was going to be necessary to deschedule a decommissioning.

"Numbuh 83?" He heard Numbuh 84's concerned voice from outside his room.

"He's not listening to me, Numbuh 84!" He heard her cry out. _Don't worry, girl. I heard you. _Numbuh 363 rolled his eyes. _Now to deschedule…WHAT?_

Harvey's eyes widened at the blinking words on the screen.

SYSTEM NOT RESPONDING.

He frantically tried again.

SYSTEM NOT RESPONDING.

_Crud! _Harvey slammed his fist down on the desk. _Once programmed…the system must be set up so it could not be overridden from the outside! _

He breathed shallowly. This could not be happening.

_Crash._ Sector W had kicked his door open.

"Numbuh 363!" Harvey slowly turned around, to see a red-eyed, yellow-haired, seven year old girl. "_Please_! I don't want to forget everything!" Harvey began trembling. _What kind of leader was he? To put his own teammate…through decommissioning…because he was…mad…_

"I'm sorry!" He fell on his knees and bawled up at Sonya. "I'm sorry, Numbuh 83!"

"Numbuh 363, what's going on?" Numbuh 84 stared at the blubbering Harvey. His gaze landed on the computer screen.

SYSTEM NOT RESPONDING.

"I tried to deschedule her decommissioning, I tried!"

"Once the computer says you're set for decommissioning, you're going to _get _decommissioned." Paddy repeated softly.

"What?" Harvey spun around.

"My sister's on the Kids Next Door's decommissioning squad, and she said, once you're scheduled in the computer, there's no going back." Paddy looked down.

"Well, I'm going to talk to _my _sister, just watch me." Numbuh 363 said defiantly. "She's an elite spy for the Kids Next Door, and she regularly reports to Moon Base. I know she can fix this, she wouldn't let me down!" He closed his eyes, then opened them.

"Numbuh 83. This is all my fault, but don't worry. I won't let you down either. As your leader, I promise I won't let you down! I won't let you get decommissioned! I'm going to Moon Base, so Sector W, don't try to stop me!" Nobody attempted to stop Numbuh 363 as he ran out of the room.

"Numbuh 83?" Tommy began hesitantly.

"I know Numbuh T. It's hopeless." She smiled a sad smile. "But I'm glad Numbuh 363 doesn't really hate me after all."

"Numbuh 83," Paddy said cautiously, "you're taking this better than I thought."

"Yeah. Weird, isn't it?" She lowered her head and wiped her eyes and wiped her eyes and wiped her eyes.

As Numbuh 84 watched her in silence, he felt something tearing up his insides. _Numbuh 363, you absolute moron. _

**----**

It was another bright and sunny morning, but Sector W was in a solemn mood. The decommissioning squad had already arrived, and was waiting.

"Good-bye, Numbuh T."

"Bye, Numbuh 83." Tommy looked concerned.

"Good-bye, Numbuh 85."

"G'bye, Numbuh 83." Paddy looked as if he was about to cry.

"Good-bye, Numbuh 363." Numbuh 363 could not meet her eyes, and his face burned in shame.

"I'm sorry, Numbuh 83," was all he could manage. Sonya nodded. That was all she could manage.

"Good-bye, Numbuh 84."

"Good-bye, Numbuh 83."

She stared at him. _I like you -I like you - I like you - I like you! Am I really going to forget you? Am I really? I wonder…if I should tell you that I like you? But does it even matter anymore? _She stared at him for so long, Numbuh 84 began to redden. _No, this is enough. _She decided. _Seeing him flush. It's cute. _

"I'm ready." She said quietly. The decommissioning squad closed ranks around her. Kids who were much older than her, kids who were much taller than her. Surrounded by them, Sonya felt absurdly small, and even more helpless, even more hopeless. She walked up the stairs of the S.K.O.O.L.B.U.S., and paused to look at Sector W for one last time. To see Numbuh 84 for one last time.

_And it was not enough._

"I - LIKE - YOU - NUM - BUH EIGHT-Y-FOUR!"

The older KND operatives jumped, and stared at her in surprise. Sector W's jaws dropped. Numbuh 84's face burned hot and wild. Crimson had started out past his ears, then red, then scarlet rapidly spread to engulf his now flaming face. Sonya hid a small smile. _At least..._she thought to herself as she turned back around..._now I'll have no regrets. _

As Numbuh 83 was taken to the Moon Base, as she was strapped into the decommissioning chair by an apologetic-looking Head of Decommissioning, as the plunger over the head was adjusted for her maximum comfort and maximum memory absorption rate, as the lever was pulled, and as her memory was being sucked away, Numbuh 83 held onto his final words for as long as she could.

"NUM - BUH - EIGHT - Y - THREE! I - LIKE - YOU - TOO!"

"NUM - BUH - EIGHT - Y - THREE! I - LIKE - YOU - TOO!"

"NUM - BUH - EIGHT - Y - THREE! I - …

"NUM - BUH - EIGHT - …

"NUM - BUH - …

_. . ._

Numbuh 83 was no more.

* * *

_Yes, Numbuh 363 can be a prat, but Sector W sticks with him for a reason. They're friends ...for a reason. So I knew that despite his outer character, he probably has a good heart deep inside. Deep, deep, deep inside. And here it is revealed. Numbuh 363 DOES have a conscience after all!_

_Also, I know it's a really short chapter, but I thought it was a good cut-off point. So, until next time!_


	11. Do You Remember?

**Chapter 11**

* * *

__

18 hours ago.

"Harvey how could you?" Numbuh 362 looked at her younger brother in shock.

"I know, I know! I screwed up big."

"Are you up here begging for my help?" She demanded angrily. "Because what am I supposed to do about this?"

"Ya…ya mean you don't know?" Numbuh 363 was in shock. "I thought you knew how to do everything!"

"Ugh. _Harvey_."

"Numbuh 363!" Numbuh 363 corrected angrily. His sister ignored him.

"My friend, Numbuh 86 is on the decommissioning squad, so I'll go talk to her, but I don't think she can do anything about descheduling your teammate's decommissioning." Rachel sighed as Numbuh 363 frowned and stomped away.

"Really. He is sometimes so impossibly demanding. I mean - what does he think I can do about this?" Numbuh 362 shook her head. _But anyway, I'll try._

----

Sector W solemnly watched the sky.

"I…I guess Numbuh 83 is probably decommissioned by now." Numbuh 85 said cautiously.

"Yeah." Numbuh 363 said, shortly. _I guess my sister couldn't do anything after all. _He sighed unhappily. He took a deep breath. "Let's go, guys." He finally said.

"Go where?" Numbuh T asked in confusion. "I didn't think we had any missions today."

"We're missing a Boy-Girl Relations Officer now." He tried not to flinch when he felt Numbuh 84's gaze. "Yeah. So, that's our mission for today. So, um. Let's go."

His sector trudged behind him silently.

----

_16 hours ago._

"I'm sorry, Numbuh 86, but apparently, my little brother got himself into some kind of mess, and I need your help."

"What _kind _of help?" Numbuh 86 asked suspiciously. It was clear that although she trusted Numbuh 362, she thought that Numbuh 363 was a completely different story.

"Well…he scheduled one of his teammates for decommissioning." Numbuh 362 continued with difficulty. "But now, he regrets it. He left it up to me to ask you, can you stop Numbuh 83's decommissioning?" Numbuh 86 looked uncomfortable.

"I'll tell you the same thing I told my little brother. Once you're scheduled for decommissioning, you get decommissioned. There's no way out of it, I'm afraid, unless you run for it."

"Oh." Numbuh 362's face fell. "I see. I should have figured you couldn't override the system. Thanks anyway, Numbuh 86." Numbuh 86 nodded uneasily.

----

"What do you think guys? We need a boy on our team who is an expert on girl policy. I bet that brown-haired guy can do the job."

"Maybe."

"Not sure."

"He's missing something. I don't know what though."

"How about him?" He tried to energize his uninterested teammates. "Him? Him?" Distressed, he tried to point out possible new recruits. "Him? Him?" Then he saw the girl who started it all. He paused before deciding to say, "Is that Sonya?" All heads snapped toward the direction he was pointing.

----

_12 hours ago. _

"What are you doing here, Numbuh 86?" Numbuh 362 rubbed her eyes, tired after filling out so much paperwork. "It's the middle of the night."

"Numbuh 362. You better not tell _anyone_ about what I'm about to say." Numbuh 86 scowled fiercely. "Got it?"

"Pinky promise, Numbuh 86." Numbuh 362 cocked her head, puzzled. "But what is this about?"

"I can't do anything about Numbuh 83 being decommissioned, but there's something you can do to get her _re_commissioned." Numbuh 362's eyes widened. _She _had_ heard about a recommissioning module in the possession of the Kids Next Door…_

"I see that you're aware of it. In the Kids Next Door Seriously Cool Museum of Artifacts and Stuff, there's a recommissioning module on display. It's _supposed_ to be broken…" She shrugged her shoulders in a carefree way, "…but it's not. All you have to do is sneak in and take it, bring it to me, then after I'm done, put it back."

"Is it possible?" Numbuh 362 wondered aloud.

"Completely."

"Is it allowed?"

"Not really." Numbuh 86 frowned. "So you better keep your lips, zipped!"

----

A mysterious figure landed in front of Sector W before they could reach their former teammate.

"Who are you?" Numbuh 363 asked rudely. "Move. We're busy right now."

"Ugh. _Harvey._ Sometimes, I really can't believe you." The figure pulled off a ski mask revealing Numbuh 362.

"Hey, sis!" Harvey was instantly all smiles. "What's up?"

"Is that her?" She asked. "Numbuh 83?" She cocked her head toward Sonya, who was rather busy at the moment.

"You're not taking my rainbow monkey!" She beat the boy up. He was twice as tall and twice as wide. He staggered away after pleading for mercy. Numbuh 362 nodded approvingly.

"She seems she could handle the Kids Next Door."

"Yeah, that's her." Harvey shrugged. "I admit she's all right, for a girl." Numbuh 362 completely ignored his remark.

"Sector W, you've got to bring her to Moon Base to Numbuh 86. Persuade her, kidnap her. Do what you've got to do…because," she smiled triumphantly, "Numbuh 86 agreed to recommission her." Everyone stared at her in shocked silence.

Numbuh 363 was the first to react. He looked at his sector once, then deliberately, he marched over to the girl. She whirled around, wary, when she felt him coming her way.

"Want to join the Kids Next Door?" Sector W was just as shocked as the girl.

"What's that?" She backed away a step, holding the rainbow monkey as if she was worried that this new boy would try to take it away.

"It doesn't matter what it is right now because you're coming with us whether you like it or not," said Numbuh 363, in all his arrogant glory. Numbuh T palmed himself on the forehead.

"Numbuh 363! That's _not_ the way to approach this." He turned to Sonya. "The Kids Next Door is this really awesome organization that fights against adult tyranny, and protects kids everywhere!" Numbuhs 84 and 85 nodded enthusiastically.

"It's the coolest thing in the world!"

"You have to join!"

"You've gotta!" Sonya was bombarded with their pleas. She backed away another step anxiously. _How much trouble would she get into if she said no? _She tucked a piece of hair behind her ear.

"Well," she went on as bravely as she could, "why would I even want to join?" Amidst the shocked silence that followed, she bit her lip. _Uh oh. _Harvey crossed his arms, his feelings hurt. _How DARE this girl refuse an offer to join Sector W! How DARE she!_

"Good! I didn't want a stupid _girl_ on our team, anyway!" Sonya stiffened.

"What?" Her voice was dangerously quiet. She heard the rest of the boys frantically whispering.

"What does he think he's _doing_?" Tommy whispered to Lee.

"No…I think this will get her to join, even if he doesn't know it." Lee answered in reply.

"Anyway, the Kids Next Door is something you should really consider…" tried Paddy desperately, but Numbuh 363 interrupted with a sneer.

"_Girls_ can't match _boys_ in any stinkin' way." Sonya furiously grabbed a startled Harvey by the collar.

"What did you say?" Harvey gulped as he saw her eyes light up dangerously.

"I - I - I want you on our team?"

"That's what I thought." Sonya promptly dropped Harvey onto the ground. _She would show them girls were just as good as boys. _She cocked her head to the side. "I'll join if you guys still want me to."

"Yeah." The boy in the ushanka smiled at her. "We do." She looked at him curiously, but he had already turned away, embarrassed that she might see his red face and wonder about it. He had remembered the shouted confession he had made that morning, a confession that everyone had heard. _Not_ how he would have preferred to do things.

"This is great!" The chubby boy in pilot goggles clapped her on the back.

"You're be okay soon, Numbuh 83!" A red-haired boy stood next to her, his eyes watering. "I'm so glad you're going to be back on the team!"

"I'm Sonya…" Sonya said, confused. _Numbuh 83?_ _Huh?_ The red-haired boy continued on heedlessly.

"Now all we have to do is take you to the Moon Base, and then my sister will recommission you, and then you'll get your memories back!" _Huh? _Sonya wondered uneasily. Then she looked at the rest of the sector who seem unsurprised by this strange bit of news. _Are they crazy? _Numbuh 363 could see she was having second thoughts, so he moved quickly for his mustard gun. He pointed it at her threateningly.

"Hey!" Sonya said in shock. "What do you think you're doing?"

"You were just thinking about running away, weren't you?" Numbuh 363 accused. "We can't have that now, can we?" Sonya stared at the yellow barrel of the gun. _What was he planning to do? _Her feet began to shift nervously.

"Numbuh 84?" Numbuh 363 barked. "Get her." She whirled around toward a boy. He had a yo-yo in his hand.

"Sorry," he apologized in advance. He spun the yo-yo, and threw. The string wrapped around her legs, and her arms, rendering her body immobile.

"You'll thank us for this later." Numbuh 363 said unapologetically. Her eyes landed on the buck-toothed leader. She looked at him, irritated.

"You're so _annoying, _beaver-teeth!"

"You - !" Numbuh 363 was interrupted by a choking sound, the kind of sound made when someone was trying hard not to laugh. "Are you _laughing_ at me, Numbuh 84?" Harvey asked in dismay. Lee shook his head, but around his mouth, Numbuh 363 could see the shadows of a smile. Harvey scowled, ready to retort, when he was once again interrupted.

"Aren't you done yet, Harvey?" Numbuh 362's voice called out.

"Yeah! We've got her trussed up like a chicken." They carried the uncooperative Sonya into the H.O.V.E.R.K.A.R.

"This is nice." Numbuh 362 said, appreciatively. "Much better than the S.C.O.O.T.E.R."

"We wanted to upgrade." Harvey boasted. "So we did." Sonya watched in disbelief as Numbuh T drove the H.O.V.E.R.K.A.R. toward the moon.

----

"There's only one rule: Nobody says _anything_ about this to _anyone_. Capiche?"

"Caposh." Everyone muttered.

"Good." Numbuh 86 walked over to the roped-up girl with pigtails. "Ready?"

"Um…" Sonya was forcibly sat on a chair. Numbuh 86 began to crank the recommissioning module. Sonya heard a humming sound vibrating from the machine, and grew more nervous as the module shook faster and harder, until it finally shot out a bright red light that consumed her. _Red, red light that was piercing her brain and...digging. Digging for...something..._

_Thump. _She fell off the chair, unconscious.

"Numbuh 83!" Numbuh 84 ran over. "What the crud happened, Numbuh 86?" He asked in panic. "She's out cold!" Numbuh 86 frowned.

"That was unexpected."

"Numbuh 86!" Numbuh 85 cried out. "You've killed her!"

"No, I didn't." Numbuh 86 snapped. "I've heard stories about others being recommissioned, but they were all perfectly fine. Perhaps it's her age; there aren't any other seven-year olds that had to be recommisioned. Maybe the younger you are, the greater the aftereffects." Numbuh 86 shrugged. "Eh. Who knows?" Everyone glanced at each other, worried.

"Numbuh 86, is she going to be all right?" Numbuh 362 whispered.

"She should be fine after she wakes up. She should also have all her memories back, but we'll have to see." There was a pause.

"When's she gonna wake up?"

"Um...maybe in a few minutes."

"You don't know, do you?" Another pause. "Don't tell Sector W."

----

_Ugh._ Sonya felt dizzy and nauseous, as if she had just gotten off a roller coaster. And her head hurt. _Why?_ Sonya's eyes popped open. Memories had flooded back into her mind. _I'm Numbuh 83._ She sat up nervously and looked around.

There was Numbuh 363, snorting a little in his sleep, his head leaning against his sister's shoulder. That was Numbuh T, sprawled out on the floor, his goggles for once, not over his eyes but in his hands. Sonya turned her gaze to the redheaded siblings. One was sleeping with a scowl, her arms crossed, and her back straight against the wall. The other was curled up into a fetal position, a smile on his sleeping face.

And there…was Numbuh 84 sleeping a few feet away.

_A memory. _

"I - LIKE - YOU - NUM - BUH EIGHT-Y-FOUR!"

Sonya blushed fiercely, and touched her cheeks lightly with her fingers. They were warm.

_A memory._

"NUM - BUH - EIGHT - Y - THREE! I - LIKE - YOU - TOO!"

Sonya shook him awake. He stirred and slowly opened his eyes. He stared at her for a moment, dazed.

"Do you remember me?" He asked lightly.

"Num-Numbuh 84." She whispered. He paused.

"Do you remember…everything?" Sonya nodded. She watched as a shy smile crept onto his face.

"Welcome back, Numbuh 83." Her eyes welled up with tears.

"Numbuh 84!" She threw her arms around him, sobbing. "I'm so glad I remember you!"

"I'm glad you remember me too." He said softly. _So, so glad. _

The rest of the room began to stir from the sound of her sobs, and one cry was soon followed by many.

"Numbuh 83!"

"Numbuh 83's back!" But a cry louder from the others echoed around the room.

"What did I tell you, Numbuh 83? Didn't I _say _I wouldn't let you down?"

Lee grinned. "That's our helmet-head leader for you." Sonya buried herself in the warmth of his arms, and smiled, content.

"I prefer ushankas."

* * *

_Tada! It's the end of BND, Sort of. Surprised I finished it? I am! Thanks to everyone for reading all the way through, and take this opportunity to review...it'll be your last. chance. ever! _


End file.
